Freeway Construction Continues

We have been amazed at what's taking place on the freeway in front of us. Whoever planned the logistics for the North Tarrant Express project did an exceptional job.

To date at our Bedford Road intersection on our side (NW) they have

closed the access road underpasses

narrowed our access road with cement barriers so it is just 1 lane wide

stripped away the cement covering the sides of the earth that supports the freeway

constructed new support columns

They work night and day. We've experienced 1 or 2 nights of deep sounds that turned out to be trucks and cement demolition. Another day it was very dusty. The exit to Bedford Road is easy to miss since it is just a space between cement barriers lining the 3 curving freeway lanes -- which can be scary in the dark! However, other than the narrowed access road, and the increased traffic due to the closure of the Central Drive westbound access road, it has been a minimal inconvenience right in our neighborhood.

On the larger project, they have already contructed a number of sections of road and recently transferred eastbound traffic at Westpark Way onto a new section, changing the 121 exit direction to the left.

Websites referenced:

http://www.northtarrantexpress.com/

New USDA Plant Hardiness Zones

Bedford (and most of north Texas) is now in Zone 8a of the USDA plant hardiness zone map. It was recently revised based on data for the "average annual extreme minimum temperature 1976-2005."

The map covers the country. It is a fine tuning of previous maps based on increased data.

Website referenced:

http://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov

Rain Gauge Reports

Want to see what the precipitation is for your area or even contribute to the data collected? Check out CoCoRaHS, the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network. "CoCoRaHS is a non-profit, community-based organization encouraging volunteer participation in the measurement and reporting of precipitation (rain, hail and snow)." It started at Colorado State University but now includes volunteers across the country.

Websites referenced:

ww.cocorahs.org