Draped with the look of winter, a new city entryway along the PGBT is becoming increasing visible as work continues on the Eastern Extension. Miles Rd, visible in the foreground on the right and behind the front-end loader, is the city limit line with Sachse. Everything beyond in this picture is in Garland. Pylons show the route of the new highway and bridge that will span Rowlett Creek. The overpass in the background is Firewheel Parkway and the AMC is visible through the trees.

 
There is a lot of construction in northeast Dallas County: the Eastern Extension of the President George Bush Turnpike (SH-190), Lavon Dr (SH-78, starting in Garland and continuing north, eventually past Wylie), Murphy Rd between Garland and Sachse, and more is coming. The latest PGBT progress update from the North Texas Turnpike Authority is here. Note route map on page two. Here is an extracted update for our section:

 
In Section 28, on the east end of the Rowlett Creek bridge, the earthwork subcontractor has constructed the bridge header embankment. The contractor continued drilling bridge support shafts. Crews also began placing the retaining wall panels on the project and installing the roadway’s underdrain system.
 

 
Anyone experiencing it knows it hasn't always been easy but the general mood has been one of expectation and acceptance rather than complaining. A recent article in the Dallas Morning News captures the input of several District 1 residents and the impacts that have been felt in the area—some of them most unexpected. Read on:

From the Dallas Morning News:

Multiple road projects cause headaches for residents of Sachse, Garland

12:00 AM CST on Monday, January 18, 2010
By RAY LESZCYNSKI / The Dallas Morning News
rleszcynski@dallasnews.com
 
While the boom has died down in northeast Dallas County, the effects resonate in the form of construction disturbances – traffic and otherwise – near the Garland-Sachse border.

Heavy traffic flows around road construction near the intersection at Sachse Road on Highway 78. The tollway extension will be a relief - when it's finished. COURTNEY PERRY/DMN

 
A mall, a turnpike and the housing market brought prosperity to the area in the 2000s. The population of Sachse practically doubled.
 
Residents who live in the area say the projects are creating headaches, but they're looking forward to the benefits that will come when the work is complete.
 
The North Texas Tollway Authority's plan to link the Bush Turnpike eastward from State Highway 78 to Interstate 30 is good news to Mary-Kathryn Sherrard. She has watched traffic back up for years near her home in the Valley Creek neighborhood of Garland, which absorbs the turnpike's current endpoint.
 
"It's been getting more and more congested," she said. "Nobody likes to put up with the construction process, but the outcome is going to be good."
 
But wildlife near Rowlett Creek was disturbed by the construction, and Sherrard was bitten by a copperhead that presumably lost its home. A Garland official said plenty of other snake sightings have been reported in the area.
 
"As soon as something like that happens to you, people come out of the woodwork and tell you their stories," Sherrard said. "I hear a lot of complaints about increased noise from raccoons and armadillos. And complaints about equipment as well. They're running a crew all night and an early morning crew and sinking piers for the bridges, and it's really noisy."
 
Garland resident Kyle Maxwell reported a longer-than-normal wait at the Bush Turnpike-Highway 78 interchange Thursday night as a temporary traffic light malfunctioned.
 
"Not to mention the ongoing safety issues I see every day as I traverse the interchange," he said. "I've lived in Dallas all my life and commuted through some of the worst traffic flows we've had, and while I'm glad to see that this area is getting some construction, it strikes me as poor project planning."
 
North of Firewheel Town Center, the Texas Department of Transportation is widening Highway 78 from four lanes to six.
 
In Sachse, residents grew increasingly wary of their own deteriorating asphalt and voted in 2006 to spend $16.65 million for street and road improvements. Two of the city's projects line the border with Garland, and two are connectors to fast-growing Murphy.
 
Now that all of the construction has hit Sachse simultaneously, progress equates to a bigger mess than ever at rush hour. It is not uncommon at peak times to wait three or four full cycles for traffic signals at Highway 78 and Murphy Road or Fifth Street.
 
Relief will be drawn-out. The tollway extension won't open until late 2011.
 
The Highway 78 project started in November and will take 300 workdays – and will soon be extended to a second project another five miles to Wylie.
 
Sachse resident Chance Lindsey is excited about the new lanes on the city's "main drag."
 
"So far, I think they have done the best job possible keeping traffic flowing," Lindsey said. "It is much tighter, but at least there are still two lanes each way."
 
Sachse City Engineer Billy George said Murphy Road is scheduled for April completion, Fifth Street will run into August, and Bunker Hill Road reconstruction will take all of 2011.
 
Garland officials said the construction on their side of Murphy Road has resulted in street closures that affect garbage pickup and some services. Heavier traffic is reported on back routes near the Firewheel at Garland golf course and near the mall, resulting in longer waits on roads not directly affected.
 
"Because everybody is trying to avoid 78, those roads have deteriorated even further," Sherrard said.
 

 
A minor note: If you saw the article in the Metro section of the DMN, the artist's rendering of the Extension route was not totally accurate. It showed a loop in the route that doesn't exist. A more accurate depiction is the map at the NTTA link above, and a slightly more accurate map than that is here (also not to scale but it does show one more entrance route next to the Firewheel Town Center).