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PHARR — Commuters who regularly travel through the construction zone of the Pharr interchange will soon find some relief as one of the new direct connectors is set to open in early June.
The Texas Department of Transportation in Pharr announced Friday that Direct Connector 3 (DC-3), which leads from Edinburg to Harlingen, is in the process of being finalized for its opening. The exact date will be announced sometime next week.
“We’re excited to announce that the Interchange Project as a whole is about 75% complete, and we’re also opening in early June Direct Connector number three, which is also known as the Edinburg to Harlingen connector,” TxDOT spokesman Ray Pedraza said during a tour of the connector Friday..
He said motorists traveling south on U.S. Highway 281 and I-69C from the Nolana Loop will soon notice directional signage that will point toward the left lane to travel to Harlingen, guiding them toward the new DC-3, or they will be able to merge toward the right to go to McAllen.
“Each one of these connectors is now two lanes wide, so it’s going to dramatically improve capacity on both of them,” Pedraza said.
The announcement about the opening of the new DC-3 comes nearly a year after traffic from Edinburg to McAllen was shifted from the old Direct Connector 4 to the newer, wider Direct Connector 4 onto I-2 West.
With the opening of the new DC-3, the Sugar Road turnaround in Pharr will be permanently closed, and the eastbound I-2 and U.S. Expressway 83 access ramp between Sugar Road and Cage Boulevard will temporarily close.
TxDOT is already preparing for the opening of the third connector, from McAllen to Edinburg, which is anticipated to take place about a month after the opening of DC-3.
“Simultaneously when that happens, the fourth and final connector, which is the Harlingen to Edinburg connector, that will be closed for demolition as well,” Pedraza said. “Then at that point, we’ll announce a reroute for that traffic.”
The $303 million I-2/ I-69C Interchange Project, which is being undertaken by Dragados-Pulice Joint Venture, includes improvements to 7.8 miles of roadway — on I-2 just west of Second Street in McAllen to just east of Stewart Road in San Juan, and on I-69C from Nolana Loop to I-2 in Pharr.
TxDOT construction director Daniel Garcia said that crews have been working nonstop since August 2022 to complete DC-3 while providing continuous detours for traffic in lieu of the existing direct connectors.
“They are finishing up on some of the pending construction items for the bridge going from McAllen to Edinburg, and all of this was done in a nine-month period,” Garcia said. “The contractor at the moment, they have 500 people who are working on the project every day. They’re working seven days a week, day and night, and making every effort to try to build the project as soon as possible.”
The substantial completion of the I-2/ I-69C Interchange Project is estimated for the end of this year. Once complete, Pedraza said that the project will not only improve the flow of traffic in the region, but also improve commerce.
“This original interchange was constructed and designed over 30 years ago, so if you can, imagine how much the population of this county and its region has grown in the past 30 years,” Pedraza said. “This is going to dramatically improve the lives of people, local commuters, and it’s also going to improve the movement of freight through here.”
“There is a lot of movement of goods in and out of Texas that goes through here,” he continued. “Everyone’s going to benefit from this. It benefits the region as a whole.”
The public is encouraged to visit dpjvtx.com for news and updates about the interchange project. There, visitors will also be able to view renderings of the completed project and sign up for traffic alerts to their phone or computers.
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