Honkin' Mad

I-20 ramp to I-35W to close

A Sunday drive on I-20 in south Fort Worth may not be a good idea this weekend. READ ABOUT THE I-20/I-35W RAMP CLOSURE HERE.

Night lane closures on I-35W

Planning on driving I-35W at night? Things are gonna be a bit messy on the highway south of Fort Worth for awhile. Traffic will be reduced to one lane in each direction on 11 miles of 35W, from just south of Alvarado to the Hill County line. The closure is 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. Sunday through Thursday, except holidays. Workers are milling off old pavement, repairing flaws and slapping on a new layer of hot mix. The $5 million project was awarded to Lindsay Contractors of Waco. The work is scheduled to be completed this fall. It's part of a $23 million makeover of Johnson County roads. More: Visit www.txdot.gov and search keyword "road conditions" ...

Kill your Case Of The Mondays with HONKIN' MAD! video

Get your commuting week off to a fun-slap-happy start with the one and only HONKIN' MAD! video.

This week's episode zooms in on cellphones in school zones, speedway traffic and some other annoying stuff on I-30, I-35W, FM 1187 ...

Mmm ... cake

Piece of cake traveling into Fort Worth from Burleson on Interstate 35. Not even slick patches under the overpasses or on bridges. If only every work day w ere as uneventful. -- J.R.

6 mph traffic; Great Way to Start the Week

Outrageous. The only word to describe what was a minor accident slowing northbound traffic on Interstate 35 between Alsbury and Garden Acres to less than a crawl. It took 30 minutes to go three miles. North Texas needs some kind of traffic SWAT teams to move these kind of non-injury, non-fatality crunches out of the way as quickly as possible. What a waste of gasoline, time and tempers on a Monday morning. -- J.R.

Chain reax

The mess Friday morning that was I-35 North from Burleson into Fort Worth can be pinned on one reason: Drivers not paying attention to the cars in front of them. Not one but two accidents in the far left lane slowed commuters to a crawl. It didn’t take an accident scene investigator to know what happened: One car slowed to a stop but the driver immediately behind it wasn’t watching, and thus plowed into the rear end. The accident just south of the Berry Street/TCU exit was a chain reaction – four cars were crumpled, including a once beautiful black Chrysler 300. (Sympathy pains from this corner – that’s what I drive.) The one near Altamesa was only a two-pile entanglement, but it was enough to backup traffic to Garden Acres.  JR

"Back to you"

This morning’s drive was a non-event despite what the TV weather types were predicting The roads were wet – which, in Texas, can be a hazard anytime – but no signs of icing anywhere. My car’s outside temp read between 35 and 37 degrees the whole way from Burleson into downtown Cowtown. But don’t you know, despite the lack of problems, some poor TV reporter was standing somewhere on a bridge in the rain saying, “Nothing to see here. Back to you in the studio.”

J.R.

Early bird gets to work faster

A traffic shot From J.R., the road warrior:

I have GOT to start leaving the house early every morning if today’s commute into Fort Worth is typical of 7 a.m. traffic. The journey northbound was a breeze! From my house outside of Burleson to the company garage in 25 minutes. Sweet.

Rubbernecking on 35W

Star-Telegram deputy editorial page editor J.R. Labbe is a road warrior. She filed this report Monday morning from 35W south of downtown FW:

This morning’s drive into town was surprisingly pleasant. I’d anticipated gridlock given it’s the first day back to work after the holidays for so many folks. But northbound I-35 moved along at or above the speed limit from Renfro in Burleson all the way to Berry Street. Traffic slowed at that point -- not because of a problem on our side of the highway, but an accident on the southbound side at Allen had northbound drivers slowing to rubberneck. Once drivers figured out the flashing lights were on the other side of the barriers, all was well.

Watch for 35W detours

Warning if you drive through Burleson: The northbound lanes of I-35W will be closed at Bethesda Road 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. Tuesday and Wednesday so workers can hang new beams. Traffic will be detoured to the service road. On Friday and Saturday (Jan. 11-12) the same thing'll happen on the southbound side.