I think I've written this headline before. I traded voice mails today with a Town of Flower Mound staffer who told me it will now be July before TxDOT gives us 6 lanes of FM2499 between FM3040 and Spinks. It looks like it's ready to open now, but they're not going to open it until they get that median landscaping just right. The staffer says there was some seepage under part of the road, and that caused a delay above and beyond the delay caused by the rainy weather.
Why am I ecstatic about the new apartments on FM2499 just over the Grapevine line? Because the new apartments cover up the hideous Hillwood warehouse that greets drivers as they come into Flower Mound from the south.
I'm still impatiently waiting for the 99%-completed stretches of FM2499 to be opened. They promised late May. I know it's rained a ton around here, but the only work that has to be done (by my estimation) south of FM3040 is the leveling of the grass in some of the medians. And how would rain stop that from taking place? All the concrete is poured, as are all the fancy brick work in some of the medians.
The new road will help move traffic a lot faster, so hopefully we'll have fewer backups at the key intersections (namely FM3040 and FM1171). But there's a price to pay.
Driving northbound, no more left turns into the Kroger shopping center. Same coming southbound -- no more turning left to go to Celebrity Bakery. You'll have to turn early and snake through the parking lots, or U-Turn at 1171 or Churchill.
Where you can cross FM2499 (for instance, at Northshore Blvd.), you'll have to be able to cross both sides of traffic at the same moment. There won't be enough room in between the two sides of FM2499 to idle in the median safe-zone. I can't see how we'll ever cross FM2499, coming out of Northshore.
How will the FM2499 change things for you, for worse or for better?
The waiting is the hardest part -- let's open up FM2499
Here's an e-mail I just sent to the Town website, via the "Have a Question" link? I'll let you know what I hear.
I thought the FM2499 construction was supposed to be done in stages, from south to north.
If that's the case, why are there still cones along the new lanes of FM2499 south of FM3040. The only thing left to do on this first stretch of widening work is to put grass or cement in the medians. Why can't they open the new lanes to traffic? It's been two months at least since the new inside lanes were finished, at least south of Northshore Boulevard? Why not open these lanes now?
Quite a scene Friday night on FM2499 just north of Grapevine Mills Mall. I was driving home from downtown Dallas around 7pm when I saw a huge plume of smoke coming up from somewhere near the mall. The fire was consuming the clubhouse of the Marquis at Silver Lake apartment complex, which is just south of the Flower Mound town line, just north of the Starbucks by Magic Mikes. It was a huge fire. I heard later that 9 different fire agencies responded to fight the fire and keep it from spreading. I didn't have any camera better than my Treo cam (the video posted here), so I called FOX 4, and we had video on our 9pm news. Fortunately for the residents, no one's apartment home was damaged. The clubhouse, which was self-standing, suffered significant damage. Perhaps there's enough of it to rebuild, however.
I had no problem passing by the apartments heading home to Flower Mound. People were slowing down to get a look, but traffic was moving. But 30 minutes later, my wife and I were heading back south on FM2499 to see a movie at the mall. By now, FMPD had closed off southbound FM2499 at Gerault, which was causing a lengthy south-bound backup.
Note to FMPD: Next time you need to shut off that stretch of road, how bout doing it at the Silveron intersection. That way traffic can easily go east toward 121 or west to the Grapevine Lake Dam. There are fewer ways out if you let the traffic go all the way south to Gerault. The backups were much longer than they should have been at that hour of the night.
I was disappointed to see this. For the time being at least, the turn-ins to the shopping centers on FM2499 on both sides of FM3040 are closed (see red lines on the map). No longer can you drive southbound on FM2499 to turn left into Tom Thumb or Blockbuster. No longer can you drive northbound on FM2499 and turn left to get to Chili's or Cici's. Sure doesn't seem like this was necessary, since they haven't closed off the turn-ins for Northshore Blvd. or Lake Flower Rd.
Christmas shopping and the Grapevine Mills traffic jams
Remember those two years or so back in the mid-late 1990s when the FM2499 flyover allowed Flower Mound-bound traffic to whiz by the farmland that is now Grapevine Mills Mall? No traffic lights, no slow traffic? That "speedway" is long gone. Now, it's a rare journey when you can make it past both of the mall traffic lights without having to stop for red at one or two. The holiday season makes the traffic around the mall that much worse. Be careful when exiting 121 to get onto FM2499. You may find a traffic backup hiding on the backside of the overpass, and too close for you to stop in time.
Flower Mound Road is on hiatus. We've moved to Richmond, Virginia -- a place where history goes back four centuries, a place where trees go and go for miles and miles. We miss you all. Feel free to read these old posts, and add your comments too.
Your Host
I'm Chip Mahaney, husband, father, neighbor, professional TV journalist and a 11-year resident of Flower Mound. I love living in Flower Mound. I write because I enjoy it, and I hope you find useful information and perhaps good commentary. Feel free to comment on any post, or e-mail me at chip-at-smartbusy.tv.
