The AARoads Blog

Photos from Kansas, Colorado, and Oklahoma (and the single point in which they intersect) from September, 2009 – and some New Mexico, and a really, really small quantity of Texas.

This is the New Mexico/Colorado/Oklahoma triple point. Dale takes this opportunity to breathe some refreshing Oklahoma air, and drink some water he has brought with him from New Mexico – and park in two states at the same time.

Dale parks the car squarely in a single state, and looks up at the Kansas/Colorado/Oklahoma marker that is visible from miles away – a good thing, because the dirt roads that one takes to get to it are somewhat labyrinthine.

The Oklahoma panhandle is known for the occasional thunderstorm.

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Hooray, new route markers.

DFW’s tolling authority, the NTTA, is replacing all of their signs – which are now unique to each route – with a standardized version. The Dallas North Tollway’s familiar round green shields are about 30% gone; the George Bush Turnpike’s old signs are over 60% replaced, and the newly christened Sam Rayburn Tollway (SH 121) has about 25% of its signs in the new style.

One state north, Oklahoma, is updating their new state highway shields with alternatively colored signs for scenic routes. Oklahoma can be surprisingly scenic. I only wish the directional banner would match.

Lubbock, Texas has opened two new stretches of freeway in May. Phase 2 of the large Marsha Sharp freeway completed the interchange at 19th Street (where US 62 splits off) and continued the main lanes northeast and east to Avenue Q (US 84). The $131 million phase of the project started about 4 years ago. It’s still not 100% complete, as landscaping and signs are not installed yet. Additionally, no one appears to know that it is open yet, because the author was the only person on the route on a Saturday afternoon.
This view looks north at the 19th Street interchange, a few days after opening. Traffic headed eastbound on 19th gets a direct ramp to northbound US 82, and westbound 19th Street traffic gets a direct ramp to southbound US 82.

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Texas Stadium is being replaced with a new Dallas Cowboys stadium opening later this year in a suburb further west. The old stadium opened in 1971 and with it a flurry of freeways and ramps designed to allow for traffic to and from the venue. As the stadium grew up, so did Irving, the suburb surrounding it. Traffic volumes on the freeways surrounding the stadium area grew and grew and now offer gridlock for most of the day. The junctions around the stadium are sub-par by Dallas standards and feature very short merge lanes, loop ramps, and signalized intersections between some freeway ramps. In short, it’s the worst freeway design in the DFW area.

Because of the new stadium, Texas Stadium is set to be demolished and the site re-developed at some point. TxDot is using this opportunity to upgrade all of the freeways surrounding the old site. Groundbreaking took place on October 28, 2008 for a new set of stack interchanges to replace the varied old loop ramps. Today, the city of Irving agreed to lease the stadium site to the DOT for 10 years and $15.4 million. TxDot will use the stadium site as a staging area for the construction of the stacks. Additionally, while the new junctions are being constructed the local transit agency, DART, will construct the Orange Line (the region’s 5th main light rail line) through the weaving ramps. The project is set to cost more than half a billion dollars, and has already been budgeted through 2010. It’s set to open in 2011, although some ramps will be open sooner.
Take a look at the junctions now, on google maps, and below the TxDot schematics for the new junctions. Click the smaller image for a larger one.

My home state has had a busy year with opening new stretches of major roadway. A large section of the new tolled SH 121 freeway north of Dallas opened in August. The new 16-mile stretch from Frisco to the southwest forms a partial loop of northern Dallas. San Antonio’s newest behemoth opened in August as well, at the junction of the US 281 freeway and Interstate 410. The two busiest roadways in the city were connected in 1978 but there was no interchange there, only traffic lights and long waits for motorists. The reasoning was that the US 281 freeway had one of the most tumultuous openings for a freeway in US history, with years of delays caused by lawsuits from various parties. By the time the roadway was finished, there was no remaining money for an interchange at the interstate. The new stack is huge, and has extensive collector-distributor lanes. It is tall enough to fit all the ramps in the allotted (small) space but not tall enough to interfere with the adjacent airport. The view below is from January, 2008 – new photos from September will be up soon. Click any of the photos for larger versions.

In April, SH 130 opened as a tolled freeway from SH 71 east of Austin south to US 183. SH 130 is a bypass of the freakishly scary double-decker IH 35 through downtown Austin, and can shave as much as 2 hours off a trip from the north end of the city to the south end (no, seriously, two hours). SH 130 will hook up with SH 45 south of this view and will carry traffic back to IH 35. Currently, motorists trying to bypass Austin on SH 130 have to take a two-lane FM road to get back to the interstate. A small price to pay for all the time savings. SH 45 is set to open early next year, including a large stack at IH 35 south of Austin. The view below looks at the current southern end of the toll freeway.

We’re map freaks, here at aaroads.com. Unabashedly. We have big boxes full of old ones, we stop to get new ones at state lines, and several of us work in the mapping industry. I work at Mapsco, in Dallas, myself. So it is with a sense of extreme excitement that I’d like to point out the release of the first ever Cartography Design Annual. Most design industries have annual books that are published to showcase the newest in design, whether it be industrial or graphic or artistic. The map world has needed something like that for while, and it’s finally come out.

Behold – Texas’ new style of signing FM road junctions along major routes. I like!

One of the major changes in American roads these days are the building of toll roads or addition of toll infrastructure to pre-existing freeways. No more evident is that then in the capital city of Texas and its metropolitan area. With so few freeways serving the area, a plan was needed to deal with the growing congestion on Interstate 35, the primary freeway linking Austin with points south and north, and the arterial system due to a glutton of housing development.

Formed were the Central Texas Turnpike System and Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority, two organizations in charge of planning, designing, and building toll freeways for the Austin area. Construction on the first of these toll roads began in 2005 and continue to present day. New roads and stretches of roads are opening at a rapid pace. Included are:

Texas Toll 1, an extension of the MoPac Expressway northward from central Austin

Texas Toll 45, an east-west freeway linking U.S. 183 with Texas Toll 130, serving both commuter and through traffic needs

Texas Toll 130, a long-distance eastern bypass and commuter route for Interstate 35 between Georgetown and Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. Further extension of this highway southward to U.S. 183 near Creedmoor is underway. Ultimately Texas Toll 130 will provide a complete alternative to Interstate 35 southward to Interstate 10 near Seguin.

Texas Toll 183A, a bypass route of U.S. 183 through the northwest suburbs of Cedar Park and Leander.

Additional routes set to begin construction or in the planning stage include:

Texas 45 Southeast, an east-west route linking Texas Toll 130 with Interstate 35 north of Creedmoor.

Texas Toll 290, a tolled freewayization of U.S. 290 east of U.S. 183 to Manor

Texas Toll 183, a tolled freewayization of U.S. 183 from U.S. 290 south to Texas Loop 111

Texas Toll 71, a tolled freewayization of the state highway between Interstate 35 and U.S. 183.

Texas Toll 45 Southwest, a four-lane freeway between Texas Loop 1 (MoPac Expressway) and Texas Farm to Market Road 1626.

We had an opportunity to check out some of the completed Austin area toll roads last month and that coverage is now available on the Texas highway guides. See the updates list for new pages on Texas Toll 1, Texas Toll 45, Texas Toll 130, and Texas Toll 183A.

Under construction since February 2005, the newest segment of the ever-growing Dallas North Tollway opened to drivers on September 29, 2007. With the 9.6-mile extension, the toll road travels 32 miles between downtown Dallas and U.S. 380 at Frisco.

Traveling over the new Texas 121 freeway along the northbound lanes of the Dallas North Tollway. Texas 121 is part of a future freeway/toll road under construction to link Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport with McKinney through the northern suburbs.

Approaching the Lebanon Road off-ramp along the northbound tollway. Ramps utilize the adjacent Dallas Parkway frontage roads to make the connection with intersecting roads such as Lebanon Road. This ramp will also serve the future John Hickman Parkway.

U.S. 380 is not the ultimate end, as plans are already underway to extend the 1968-built original toll road further north into Grayson County. Frontage roads, named Dallas Parkway, are already under construction from the stub north end.

Tarps cover guide signs for the future Stonebrook Parkway off-ramp along the northbound toll road. The northbound off-ramp is slated to open on October 16; the nearby on-ramp will follow with a November 10 opening.

Departing the Dallas North Tollway along the Cotton Gin Road off-ramp. A two-lane configuration exists here, which is typical for the northernmost extension of the toll road.

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This is a look at the Texas trunk highway system. It’s an offshoot of the governor’s crazy Trans-Texas corridor scheme, but makes more sense. The idea is to connect huge parts of the state with expressways, building freeway bypasses of almost every populated place. Click images for larger versions. Like this picture of Munday’s (pop. 1,500) new bypass:

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