July 4 festival brings Allen Parkway traffic changes

So it's almost time for Chevy's Freedom over Texas, the city's July 4 celebration — and that means some traffic changes you'll want to know about, beginning this weekend.

One change in the festival plans is the result of all the rainy weather we've been having lately: The main stage will move from the south bank of Buffalo Bayou, where it's usually located, to the inbound lanes of Allen Parkway and the feeder road near Heiner Street. To allow crews to build the stage, inbound traffic on Allen Parkway will be channeled into one lane east of Taft beginning at 7 a.m. Saturday, and the inbound feeder road will be closed east of Gillette. That will continue until Allen Parkway gets totally shut down in the area at 10 a.m. Tuesday. As for the other traffic changes coming in the next few days:

At 10 a.m. Tuesday, the exit ramps to Allen Parkway from the north- and southbound lanes of I-45 will close, as will the ramp from Walker to Allen Parkway. Allen Parkway's inbound lanes will close at Taft and the outbound lanes will close at Bagby, and the inbound Allen Parkway feeder will close at Crosby. Sabine at Memorial and Gillette at West Dallas will also close Tuesday morning.

At 9 p.m. Tuesday, the ramp from Walker to Sabine will close, but the loop back to McKinney will remain open.

At 4 p.m. Wednesday, Allen Parkway inbound will be closed at Montrose, and Memorial will be closed in both directions between Bagby and Waugh. The intersections of Memorial and Silver, Washington and Sawyer, Dallas and Heiner and West Dallas and Crosby will also close.

Between 5 and 10:30 p.m. Wednesday, no vehicles or pedestrians will be allowed in the designated fireworks fallout area along Memorial Drive between Studemont and Sabine. The Sabine Street Bridge will be closed to pedestrian traffic between 5 and 10 p.m., and Buffalo Bayou itself will be closed to boats between Capitol and Studemont.

Allen Parkway, Memorial Drive and surrounding intersections will reopen at 5 a.m. Thursday, and inbound Allen Parkway traffic will be allowed to use all three lanes beginning at noon Friday. The Freedom over Texas festival itself will run from 4 to 10 p.m. Wednesday, with the fireworks beginning at 9:25 p.m. Check back for more information on the festival itself next week.