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I thought it was dumb that they didn't try just turning 340 into a legitimate by-pass first.
I've heard that quite a bit from out-of-towners, and from some locals.
That said, it will be quite a challenge, I think, to construct the flyover and looped exits needed to do the same type of interchange that we now see where South Loop 340 crosses I-35 adjacent to the Central Texas Marketplace. TxDOT will need more ROW at that intersection and will be buying some existing businesses when that happens.
I always thought an easier and cheaper interchange on the North side would be to build it to follow Air Base Road, and merge it into Loop 340 around Highway 84/Bellmead Drive.
Other than the interchange itself, though, Loop 340 should have been 4-lane divided long ago. See Lake Shore between Gholson Road and MLK, for example. Somehow that project got funded many, many years ago, I suppose to support our 'heavy' airport traffic?
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I assume there's someone on the I-35 corridor who has enough money to make sure no one decides to fix the loop.
It's no secret (nor do I blame them) that Baylor values I-35 traffic as being a 'window' to showcase the University and also McLane Stadium. Heavy truck traffic on I-35 is probably not their target market, but a functional Loop 340 would divert both truck and passenger traffic, I suspect.
I think most would agree that they've done a nice job over the last 20 years of removing the commercial businesses between the University and the Interstate to help support their showcasing.
Moreover, Waco city leaders are riding the Magnolia horse as fast and as hard as they can. They
want I-35 traffic. Plain and simple.
The question is whether TxDOT will finally decide that the transportation needs of the
region outweigh the unstated goals of the local MPO, and finds funding somewhere. If that happens, Loop 340 will happen.
In addition to being a bypass for I-35 traffic traveling through Waco, East Loop 340 is now accommodating a heavy amount of traffic from State Highway 6 originating in NW Houston and BCS and traveling to Ft. Worth and the more southern parts of the Metroplex. That includes quite a bit of oversized commercial traffic, the kind which really struggles navigating East Loop 340.