TxDOT isn’t sure when it will finish US 287 work, but it will take a long, long time

Fast growth often generates slow traffic. The roughly 6.9-mile stretch of U.S. 287 carving through far north Fort Worth toward Wise County has proven no exception to the rule.

The freeway splits off Interstate 35W just south of the Alliance mega-development and scythes northwest, through subdivisions, warehouses and the remaining plots of undeveloped land in between.

At its most tolerable, U.S. 287 beams sedans, SUVs and semitrailers north and south through one of Fort Worth’s most bustling corridors. But the stream of vehicles regularly slows to a trickle, as drivers jostle for space on its cramped two-lane roads.

Relief for commuters isn’t imminent.

The Texas Department of Transportation first unveiled plans to add a third lane to each side of the highway between I-35W and Avondale-Haslet Road in 2019. The expansion — coupled with extended frontage roads, built-out bridges and other adjustments — will, planners theorize, ease congestion.

TxDOT planned to start construction on the first phase of the $227 million project this year. The first leg, originally priced at $35 million, involves stitching extra lanes onto the freeway from its digression off I-35W until its intersection with Harmon Road (about 1.3 miles), adding frontage roads, and piecing together bridges linking Harmon and North Tarrant Parkway.

As of late July 2024, construction has yet to begin. In fact, officials haven’t finished planning the segment.

“Phase one is currently undergoing final planning and design work before right-of-way purchase and utility relocations begin,” TxDOT public information officer Bethany Kurtz wrote to the Star-Telegram. “This phase is currently estimated to be let for bidding in late 2026, pending funding availability.”

In the meantime, vehicles will continue to twist impatiently and awkwardly around Harmon’s tight, hole-ridden roundabouts to get on and off the freeway. (Early schematics of the rebuild from 2022 show the infamous rotaries being replaced with stoplights.)

Bidding for the subsequent phase of construction is set to open in 2029, Kurtz added, implying the road won’t be finalized until at least the following decade. TxDOT did not offer explanations for the revised timeline (or forecast when it expected to finish the rebuild).

U.S. 287 connects more than a dozen housing communities to the center of Fort Worth. Spacious lots and good schools draw thousands of families to Fort Worth’s northwestern outskirts.

State authorities have made strides toward alleviating some of the area’s other traffic woes. TxDOT received $17.2 million from the federal government last summer to build a four-lane bridge over train tracks intersecting with Bonds Ranch Road. Engineers believe the overpass, slated for completion by 2028, will help unclog rush hour back-ups caused by trains.