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The next exit serves Belt Line Road. Belt Line Road forms a full loop around Dallas, and any "spoke" freeway, and in this case the loop, has an interchange with it. Photo taken 10/19/03. |
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Eastbound at Belt Line Road in Irving. IH 635 remains 6 lanes in this area and rarely backs up eastbound. Westbound towards the airport, is another story entirely. Photo taken 10/19/03. |
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More advance signage before Olympus/MacArthur. Note the very wide median here. This section of IH 635 is the newest constructed, and was completed aroun 1982. It is very open to expansion, but none is planned as of yet. Photo taken 10/19/03. |
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Eastbound IH 635 at Olympus/MacArthur. MacArthur Blvd is one of the most important arterials in the large suburb of Irving, and connects to IH 30 and various state highways to the south. This exit also serves Valley Ranch, the large suburban development and Dallas Cowboys Training Camp. Photo taken 10/19/03. |
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A general view of IH 635 eastbound in North Irving. Mid-rise office blocks appear here. When this photo was taken, the PGBT did not extend to the north of IH 635 - it has since been connected northward, making the pictured sign outdated. Photo taken 10/19/03. |
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IH 635 eastbound before O'Connor/Valley View. Photo taken 10/19/03. |
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IH 635 eastbound at O'Connor/Valley View. O'Connor Blvd serves the large Las Colinas Development in Irving, while the Valley View lane runs eastward into Farmers Branch. This photo was taken before construction was completed of the large PGBT stack here. Photo taken 10/19/03. |
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IH 635 eastbound before Luna Rd. The first mention of IH 35E is also seen here in North Irving. Note the 3-digit interstate in a 2-digit shield, common in the Dallas area. Photo taken 10/19/03. |
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IH 635 eastbound before Luna Rd. The freeway adds two lanes on each side here, to take on merging PGBT traffic. The IH 635 HOV Lane, which extends into Dallas far to the east, also begins here. Photo taken 10/19/03. |
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Eastbound at Luna Rd, the freeway is down to 4 lanes. IBM has a large office complex at this exit, and there is a large Omni Hotel to the south side of the road. This section of IH 635 was constructed in 1981-82 and there are still large wide open spaces to each side of the road. Photo taken 10/19/03. |
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Advance signage for the IH 35E interchange. Denton is the control point for IH 35E north, where it merges with IH 35W for the trek northward to Oklahoma. |
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This HOV lane entrance marks the western end of the 635 HOV lanes. Dallas got its first HOV lane on IH 30 in October of 1991, this 635 HOV lane began operation in 1996. |
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The freeway now enters the northern suburb of Farmers Branch, and the stack with IH 35E is very visible. Photo taken 10/19/03. |
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IH 635 eastbound at the northbound exit for IH 35E in Farmers Branch. Hazardous Cargo routes are signed on tabs above the overhead signs. Dallas' HC routes are well signed. Photo taken 10/19/03. |
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IH 635 eastbound at IH 35E, its parent route. This is IH 635's only interchange with IH 35E, as the southern loop became IH 20 after construction. The freeway drops to only two main lanes through the interchange, along with the HOV lane. Photo taken 10/19/03. |
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A view of the IH 635/35E stack. The stack was built in 1966, and was updated in 1977 and 1981, the updating made the stack fairly confusing, and an upgrade design process is currently underway. Photo taken 10/19/03. |
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After the stack with IH 35E, the freeway gains two new travel lanes, and with the HOV has 10 main lanes. This is the oldest stretch of IH 635, and opened in August of 1966. Photo taken 10/19/03. |
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IH 635 eastbound at Josey Ln. Josey is a main route north through the suburbs of Carrollton and Farmers Branch. The arterial was recently extended all the way north to SH 121. Photo taken 10/19/03. |
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IH 635 eastbound at Webb Chapel Road, also a major arterial into Farmers Branch and Carrollton. The "H" hospital sign points drivers to the adjacent RHD Medical Center - renamed from "Robert H. Dedman Hospital" for obvious reasons. Photo taken 10/19/03. |
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IH 635 eastbound through Farmers Branch. The Joe Ratcliff walkway is the only dedicated pedestrian structure over 635. It was constructed in 1967 but did not receive a name until 2003. Photo taken 10/19/03. |
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IH 635 eastbound at Marsh Ln. Marsh Ln provides access all the way southwards into Dallas and the Love Field area. This exit is notable in that it is residential, without any commercial strips at the interchange - rare on 635. Photo taken 10/19/03. |
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Advance signage along IH 635 eastbound for Midway Road / Welch Rd in Farmers Branch. Photo taken 10/19/03. |
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A state-name 635 shield and its hazardous cargo add-on are illuminated in the evening sunset. Photo taken 10/19/03. |
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The Midway/Welch exit in Farmers Branch. Midway road runs northward and forms the border between Collin and Denton Counties. Welch Rd is a short arterial that connects 635 with a large industrial park area. Photo taken 10/19/03. |
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The 10-lane freeway briefly curves into the east as the Galleria skyline comes into view. Photo taken 10/19/03. |
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The Galleria is the area's largest mall, and is identical to one in Houston. The mall area features a large skyline with several high-end hotels and the Kinko's Corporate Headquarters. If you've ever seen the first traffic scene in the movie Office Space, it was filmed right here. Photo taken 10/19/03. |
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IH 635 eastbound at the Dallas North Tollway (DNT). The interchange is a substandard cloverleaf, and is being upgraded. Flyover ramps for frontage roads were added in 1984, but do not assist traffic on the main lanes. Dallas Parkway is the name for the Tollway's frontage roads north of 635. Photo taken 10/19/03. |
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A view looking eastbound at the Tollway Cloverleaf, with the access ramp to Dallas Parkway. Take the latter to access the Galleria area directly. Photo taken 10/19/03. |
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The sun reflects off the Hilton Hotel at the Tollway interchange. The DNT northbound carries drivers to their identical brick homes in rapidly sprawling Collin County. Photo taken 10/19/03. |
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IH 635 eastbound at SH 289, Preston Road. Before the DNT Preston was the major road northward into Collin and Grayson Counties. There is serious talk circulating at TxDot of truncating this state route to end here, but at this time it continues southward to Loop 12. Photo taken 10/19/03. |
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IH 635 southbound in Mesquite, just after the IH 30 stack. The road features 8 main lanes here but is currently being reconstructed in a 10 lane configuration. This exit serves a large shopping area and mall, and often backs up onto the main lanes. Photo taken 10/19/03. |
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Fort Worth is a very odd choice for a control point here at US 80, Balch Springs or Hutchins would be a better choice. The US 80 stack was contstructed in 1970-71. Photo taken 10/19/03. |
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A view looking southbound at the US 80 stack. Photo taken 10/19/03. |
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Take the US 80 freeway westbound to Downtown, it's still one of the only 2x2 lane configuration freeways left in Dallas. Photo taken 10/19/03. |
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Another view of the 4 level symettrical stack at IH 635 and US 80 in Mesquite. Photo taken 10/19/03. |
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IH 635 southbound at Gross Rd in Mesquite (it is pronounced groh-ss, not grah-ss as some of the newbie traffic reporters might say). Mesquite's retail area extends southward to here. 635's frontage roads also end here, headed southbound. Fort Worth dissapears here as a control point, too, thankfully. Photo taken 10/19/03. |
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IH 635 southbound at SH 352, Military/Scyene (pronounced Sigh-EEN). This is an old routing of US 80 and eastbound traffic here will be headed into downtown Mesquite. Photo taken 10/19/03. |
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South of SH 352, IH 635 is occassionally signed as "to IH 20". The reason behind this is that until 1988, the two routes were multiplexed here. When IH 20 was realigned, the tabs were changed to "to".Photo taken 10/19/03. |
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IH 635 southbound at Bruton Road. This marks the end of Mesquite and the beginning of the suburb of Balch Springs. In 2005, Bruton Rd was renamed Cartwright Rd east of this interchange, and the new signs reflect that. Photo taken 10/19/03. |
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IH 635 southbound at Lake June Rd in Balch Springs. Lake June runs westbound into Dallas' large Pleasant Grove neighborhood. Local note: the Mexican Restaurant on the southwest corner was originally an animal hospital. Photo taken 10/19/03. |
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635 southbound at Elam Rd (pronounced EE-lum) in Balch Springs. This exit primarily serves the blue collar suburb, with the city hall just off Elam to the east. Photo taken 10/19/03. |
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Seagoville is signed as an auxiliary control point for US 175 eastbound. The town is still very rural, for being so close via freeway to the city. Photo taken 10/19/03. |
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IH 635 ends southbound as IH 20 comes in from the east and US 175 comes in from the west. This interchange was constructed in 1987-1988 with IH 20's realignment west of Terrell. Photo taken 10/19/03. |
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Yellow end banners mark the end of IH 635 in this advance signage in Balch Springs, just past Elam Rd. Photo taken 10/19/03. |
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Another view of the 635 end sign and yellow banners. Photo taken 10/19/03. |
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IH 635 ends southbound. IH 635 was truncated here in 1988, thus the reason for the large sign. Texas usually makes no distinction of road endings, but this end of IH 635 is very well signed due to its rather recent shortening. Photo taken 10/19/03. |
Page Updated August 18, 2006.
