Seven Tower Cranes Says A Lots

Well, you have heard me talk about the massive amounts of construction going on in the Metroplex.  It is something that most places wish that they had going on in their areas. Add the roadwork going on to the building construction and it just freaks me out. I've seen a lot of construction projects. Some I was actually apart of at the time.  But never, have I seen this amount for this long and the signs show no sign of letting up any time in the future.

Today, was the first time that I have been out on my photo circuit for nearly a month, now ( Some of you might have noticed since I have not produced much post writing or picture posting). The reason for that is an old injury that flared up and had me pretty much sitting at the desk catching up on some detail work that had taken a back seat when I was out shooting so much of the time.

Yesterday, I went out for a couple of hours and treated myself to a sit down meal for a change. While driving that short distance, I ran across a Mc Donald's that was in a heap of rubble with a big back hoe still parked at the site. Today, the demolitions continued with a complete office complex  that had been leveled and already cleared off. Then, this afternoon, the next demolition was a major warehouse complex and a motel that were in various stages of rubble. Before the day was out, I had come across another four landmarks that were just totally gone. It was mind-boggling and I am asking myself, what was wrong with the buildings that were there in the first place?

Then, it was like a time warp and I started to see new construction projects and I'm not talking about little ones. A 300-500 villa complex in Las Colinas tucked away off Carpenter Freeway (SR114)  near the old Texas Stadium has already begun. That's when I hit the SR183 Airport Freeway road work that has completely revamped the south end  entrance to Dallas/Ft.Worth International Airport. Keeping in mind also, that the North End was just completed.

On the amusing side, while checking out my favorite train spot, I came across a lady who had run her SUV off the road into a ditch that had the SUV on a 45 degree angle and from the road level,the top of the SUV wasn't showing all that much. The lady already had help and I continued on to check out the trains. On the return, a guy in a bobcat had pulled the lady out of the ditch. There was thick heavy mud as high as the top of the wheels. I really don't want to know how she drove off the road into the ditch in the first place.

It was a perfect day to be out walking with the camera and just doing a bit of street photography which is just pure fun and usually turns up some good submissions in the editorial department. Here are some shots from the afternoon.

Should have gotten a shot while the car was still in the ditch.

This was a great shot from the hill overlooking the old Texas Stadium location.

From the Texas Stadium hill, there are 7-tower cranes working at Love Field. a couple for the parking garage and the rest are for the new training facility at Southwest Airlines Campus adjacent to their Headquarters  and the new Operations Center that was completed not all that long ago.

More from LBJ Express and High 5

Here's three more on the LBJ at the High 5 and on the LBJ Express Project which is 35E  at the LBJ.

Downtown Carrollton at Beltline with 35E NB. This is were the train tracks cume into Carrollton from Irving on the way to Frisco and north and the crossing of the old Cotton belt tracks running toward Grapevine and Ft. Worth.

The Express Lanes are Tolls and subterrain lanes,but open top.

 

 

The slight blue of grey in the sky or on the road way is the camera picking up the chain link fence that was shot through.

Reminds me of the Movie,"A River Runs Through It" but this river is toll lanes down below!

Move Over New York

The electronic arm of the Dallas Morning News, the DallasNews, ran an article earlier this week about the rapid growth that we are experiencing here in the Metroplex and a side bar article mixed in about the even more expansive growth in Houston.  We are the fourth largest area in the country; New York and New Jersey is third.

Dallas came in at 131.000 in the count period in 2013 to 2014. Houston:156,000 in the same period. When you look at the New York and New Jersey numbers in comparison, they added just 91,000. That's 105,000 plus/minus more above each reaching New York's numbers in both Houston and Dallas. That is 287.67 people per day arriving in each  city of Houston, Dallas, The Woodlands, Arlington.

No wonder vacant land, from single lots to open fields, are under construction. For the past month, I have been counting  houses in the framing mode. The numbers add up more than the fingers on both hands, always!

The new homes on just single lots number more than the fingers on each hand in Dallas. That does not include the 300-500 apartment complexes that are going up en mass and the 8-10 unite condos that are squeezed onto 2 or 3 acres.

DallasMorningNew article

 

Color at the High 5

Two new school buses heading to the bus barn to be ready for a new school years in August

Just like their slogan,"We cover the earth", This moving billboard on the 5th level of the Dallas High 5 covers the ad world from the ground up.

A pop-up tent in the middle of 16-lanes is perfect for workers breaks.

Ready for work, parking was not a problem from these gentlemen. Use the closed HOV lanes on the LBJ

Once in a great while, being on foot does have its advantages. While my car was in a 2-hour free parking lot after an errand, it was time to get out my camera and walk an area that is difficult to have access. That too, was the present of a genie and I took advantage of the opportunity. Much to my own surprise, there were some unusual and/or colorful images waiting to become images.

Lake Highland Center Begins Construction

Gravity Still Wins

with a multi-level parking garage. It's not what everyone thought that they would see. There is a pad with pipes coming out of the cement for plumbing and appears to be condos or apartments . Still, the past two years have been a delight  with no construction. We all knew that eventually that day would come and so it has.
 



New art on display

The balancing act

Video being made for social media

                                                  


During the trip to check out the construction, I discovered two new metal art pieces that have recently been displayed by the Office of Cultural Affairs for the City of Dallas.  Sweet.  It just continues to prove that everything in life is a trade off. You give up something and you get something else in return. The construction of a peaceful block of land was obtained from old apartments. The solitude of water, beauty and wildlife gave way to construction and for that construction sacrifice, the city set two new works of art.

Spring this year will see more construction but 20 feet below on the walks to the the Lake Highland Train Station  along the creek, new beauty will explode and the area will transform and morph into what the developer originally saw in the property.