US-75 Expansion/Construction between north of Dallas and the TX/OK state line

[kphoger]

Regardless if it is signed as an Interstate highway or not, I fully expect US-69/75 to be upgraded to Interstate standards from the Red River up to US-70 in Durant.

I need to point out that ... there is actually more differences between the requirements for an Interstate and a generic controlled access freeway than just properly paved shoulders.

I know there are more differences than just shoulder widths. Some of the ramp designs on the US-69/75 freeway just North of the Red River are badly outdated. The first exit at Franklin Drive is one example. ODOT did some modifications to the next exit with OK-91 (such as replacing a tight cloverleaf ramp with a straight ramp design). There is some other work going on in the Colbert area. Still, the non-freeway gap between Colbert and Calera will remain for the time being.

Are they raising the bridges in that area?  I think current Interstate standards call for a minimum bridge clearance of 16 feet.

Posted vertical clearances:
15' 10" — Exit 1 (NB)
15' 8" — Exit 4 (NB)

[I-35]

Well, this newly announced project will certainly necessitate a better connection to US-75, or at least twinning the US-70 bridge across Lake Texoma.

Hard Rock says it's planning to build a 189-room hotel and conference center on Lake Texoma

This is located near Kingston, about 15 miles west of Durant on US-70, and is part of a very large development named Pointe Vista, which has the backing of the Chickasaw Nation.  In a perfect world, an extension of TX-289 up through the Preston peninsula and onto a new bridge across the lake would intersect US-70 very near this project.  I don't see how this could get built without tolling the bridge, though.  There are already ongoing feasibility studies for twinning the US-70 Roosevelt bridge, including a couple of options converting the existing substandard bridge to a ped/bike crossing and adding two new freeway-quality spans parallel to the existing bridge.

[bwana39]

Well, this newly announced project will certainly necessitate a better connection to US-75, or at least twinning the US-70 bridge across Lake Texoma.

Hard Rock says it's planning to build a 189-room hotel and conference center on Lake Texoma

This is located near Kingston, about 15 miles west of Durant on US-70, and is part of a very large development named Pointe Vista, which has the backing of the Chickasaw Nation.  In a perfect world, an extension of TX-289 up through the Preston peninsula and onto a new bridge across the lake would intersect US-70 very near this project.  I don't see how this could get built without tolling the bridge, though.  There are already ongoing feasibility studies for twinning the US-70 Roosevelt bridge, including a couple of options converting the existing substandard bridge to a ped/bike crossing and adding two new freeway-quality spans parallel to the existing bridge.

https://us70laketexoma.transportationplanroom.com/ Is the project website. If they can figure out the money Alternative 5 is the probable choice.
https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/42c0e769926c4298bb20d622f2b296df

For whatit is worth, Choctaw's new casino facility at Hochatown is bigger and 259 is 2-lanes north of Broken Bow!

[I-35]

Well, this newly announced project will certainly necessitate a better connection to US-75, or at least twinning the US-70 bridge across Lake Texoma.

Hard Rock says it's planning to build a 189-room hotel and conference center on Lake Texoma

This is located near Kingston, about 15 miles west of Durant on US-70, and is part of a very large development named Pointe Vista, which has the backing of the Chickasaw Nation.  In a perfect world, an extension of TX-289 up through the Preston peninsula and onto a new bridge across the lake would intersect US-70 very near this project.  I don't see how this could get built without tolling the bridge, though.  There are already ongoing feasibility studies for twinning the US-70 Roosevelt bridge, including a couple of options converting the existing substandard bridge to a ped/bike crossing and adding two new freeway-quality spans parallel to the existing bridge.

https://us70laketexoma.transportationplanroom.com/ Is the project website. If they can figure out the money Alternative 5 is the probable choice.
https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/42c0e769926c4298bb20d622f2b296df

I was wondering about that.  It would be nice if this area was upgraded to full freeway, and perhaps that is still an option with Alternative 5, to tie into the western Durant bypass.

[Bobby5280]

Are they raising the bridges in that area?  I think current Interstate standards call for a minimum bridge clearance of 16 feet.

That's a good question. The first bridge over US-69/75 North of the Red River is a railroad bridge -with a clearance of just 15' 9".

This is located near Kingston, about 15 miles west of Durant on US-70, and is part of a very large development named Pointe Vista, which has the backing of the Chickasaw Nation.  In a perfect world, an extension of TX-289 up through the Preston peninsula and onto a new bridge across the lake would intersect US-70 very near this project.

If TX DOT or some other group proposed a new bridge to span from the tip of the Preston Peninsula to the Oklahoma side (maybe to connect to OK-70A) I would expect quite a bit of resistance from both locals and others that go boating/fishing on the lake. Such a bridge would be roughly 2 miles long. While such a bridge might help improve connectivity and business the structure might be an eye sore as well. The lake in the area off Sunset Point has a very expansive view not interrupted by bridges or other man-made stuff.

[bwana39]

This is located near Kingston, about 15 miles west of Durant on US-70, and is part of a very large development named Pointe Vista, which has the backing of the Chickasaw Nation.  In a perfect world, an extension of TX-289 up through the Preston peninsula and onto a new bridge across the lake would intersect US-70 very near this project.

If TX DOT or some other group proposed a new bridge to span from the tip of the Preston Peninsula to the Oklahoma side (maybe to connect to OK-70A) I would expect quite a bit of resistance from both locals and others that go boating/fishing on the lake. Such a bridge would be roughly 2 miles long. While such a bridge might help improve connectivity and business the structure might be an eye sore as well. The lake in the area off Sunset Point has a very expansive view not interrupted by bridges or other man-made stuff.

Right now the biggest construction priority is the replacement of the US-70 roosevelt bridge over the Washita River (Lake Texoma). ODOT says
"So let's assume that it's a couple hundred million dollar project," said ODOT district engineer Anthony Echelle. "The magnitude of that is two whole years of the entire southeastern Oklahoma construction budget."

So Oklahoma certainly doesn't have the money for what they already need. https://www.kten.com/story/49259696/odot-hosts-meeting-for-potential-changes-to-roosevelt-bridge

[I-35]

Are they raising the bridges in that area?  I think current Interstate standards call for a minimum bridge clearance of 16 feet.

That's a good question. The first bridge over US-69/75 North of the Red River is a railroad bridge -with a clearance of just 15' 9".

This is located near Kingston, about 15 miles west of Durant on US-70, and is part of a very large development named Pointe Vista, which has the backing of the Chickasaw Nation.  In a perfect world, an extension of TX-289 up through the Preston peninsula and onto a new bridge across the lake would intersect US-70 very near this project.

If TX DOT or some other group proposed a new bridge to span from the tip of the Preston Peninsula to the Oklahoma side (maybe to connect to OK-70A) I would expect quite a bit of resistance from both locals and others that go boating/fishing on the lake. Such a bridge would be roughly 2 miles long. While such a bridge might help improve connectivity and business the structure might be an eye sore as well. The lake in the area off Sunset Point has a very expansive view not interrupted by bridges or other man-made stuff.

When I posted this, I was thinking something along the lines of the Lake Lewisville Toll Bridge, also operated by NTTA.  Bridges don't have to be purely utilitarian, particularly when they are backed by tolls.  Recognizing this is fantasy land here, however.



And to get this out of my system: 

[Road Hog]

TxDOT will have to seriously upgrade TX 289 (a former FM road) between Pottsboro and the lake to accommodate a new bridge/causeway, but I'm not against the idea.

[armadillo speedbump]

There's not a strong economic need for another bridge across Lake Texoma, and won't be for several decades.  Perhaps an argument for easier access to some small towns or campgrounds or minor attractions, but certainly not from DFW growth.

The Collin County Loop ROW is an approximate edge of growth for the fastest growing side of the metro.  It is 35 miles north of downtown Dallas.  From the CC Loop to the Oklahoma side of the lake opposite the Preston Bend peninsula is 45 miles.  Take a look at old sat photos from 30 years ago, in that time the edge was about 18 miles further south.  18 miles in 30 years.  Now while the raw number increase  each year for DFW keeps getting larger, the circular outer boundary also keeps increasing (growth is occurring in every direction), meaning that on average, for every 100,000 net increase in population, the additional distance that the edge is pushed out from the center slightly decreases.  Area math. 

So even accounting for ever increasing numbers of persons added each year, the outer boundary 30 years from now will probably not be pushed out more than perhaps 20 miles.  Masses of subdivisions are highly unlikely to pop up in southern Oklahoma for 40 to 60+ years.  Maybe 1 here or there to support local growth or a retirement community or perhaps some large lots for a few commuters to Denison/Sherman, or eventually (decades) those seeking relatively cheap land compared to the DFW edge, but not the amount likely to require a long and expensive new bridge.   

Not to mention the potential legal environment and political differences of building and buying on split rule Native American Tribal lands may (or may not) slow residential development compared to other areas.  I don't want to overstate potential uncertainties, just note that it has potential to be a factor.

[I-35]

There's not a strong economic need for another bridge across Lake Texoma, and won't be for several decades.  Perhaps an argument for easier access to some small towns or campgrounds or minor attractions, but certainly not from DFW growth.

The Collin County Loop ROW is an approximate edge of growth for the fastest growing side of the metro.  It is 35 miles north of downtown Dallas.  From the CC Loop to the Oklahoma side of the lake opposite the Preston Bend peninsula is 45 miles.  Take a look at old sat photos from 30 years ago, in that time the edge was about 18 miles further south.  18 miles in 30 years.  Now while the raw number increase  each year for DFW keeps getting larger, the circular outer boundary also keeps increasing (growth is occurring in every direction), meaning that on average, for every 100,000 net increase in population, the additional distance that the edge is pushed out from the center slightly decreases.  Area math. 

So even accounting for ever increasing numbers of persons added each year, the outer boundary 30 years from now will probably not be pushed out more than perhaps 20 miles.  Masses of subdivisions are highly unlikely to pop up in southern Oklahoma for 40 to 60+ years.  Maybe 1 here or there to support local growth or a retirement community or perhaps some large lots for a few commuters to Denison/Sherman, or eventually (decades) those seeking relatively cheap land compared to the DFW edge, but not the amount likely to require a long and expensive new bridge. 

I understand what you're saying but feel like you're missing some key context.  Sherman has hauled in two absolute economic coups in the semiconductor wafer fabs that are being built there, with construction costs alone running well over $30-40 billion betweeen the two projects.  These two projects combined with ancillary industries will propel Sherman from its current 45,000 population to something much closer to 100,000, and officials expect that figure within 5-10 years.  Denison is on a growth trajectory as well, and, lo and behold, a $6 billion Margaritaville resort was just announced this week on Lake Texoma by the same developers behind Craig Ranch in McKinney.  Projects like this and the Hard Rock resort announced across the lake earlier this week prove out that growth is occurring at a faster rate here than what a Collin County Outer Loop demarcation would suggest.  These cities are becoming economic centers on their own, with proximity to DFW no doubt playing a part.  And that growth has been very uneven along the periphery and trending much further northward over southward - look no further than towns on the south side of DFW like Corsicana and Alvarado which are essentially no larger than they were fifty years ago despite being more proximate to the core cities of the Metroplex.

[armadillo speedbump]

I'm aware of all those developments, but also aware of scale, distance, and development patterns.

The semi-c plants are on the south side of Sherman (there are reasons for that), 17 crow miles from any part of Oklahoma.  The residential subdivision growth resulting from it and the related econ development for the next few decades will be primarily nearby, both Sherman centric and heavily south towards to the new suburbs springing up in Van Alstyn, Anna, and even Melissa.  Parts of Anna may also be 17 miles away, but will be attractive to many because of proximity to DFW amenities, potentially better schools, and more/higher paid jobs for spouses.  Eventually (decades away) the southern/southwestern side will become the least affordable so that some may seek lower prices much further north, but not a significant factor for years to come.  For now Anna and such are affordable housing outlets for McKinney/Plano/Frisco jobs.  And there is and will continue to be for many years even cheaper land to the east, west, and north of Sherman.  Sherman-Denison will boom, but relatively it still won't be huge, there is tons of land, and the Denison side will have a slower rate, being furthest away (and other reasons).  Grayson County was 120k in 2010, 135k in 2020.  Going to 200k, 300k, or even 400k is not going to push much growth to the north side of Lake Texoma.  Too much available land in between to the east, west, and south.

Oklahoma is going to see the smallest and most delayed growth of the sub-area's boom, unless they develop some type of tax incentives to attract more jobs.  They're doing similar by taking advantage of gambling limitations in Texas, but that will only go so far in creating population growth.  Many seem to wildly overvalue the actual growth and road traffic such generate.  And congrats on building a resort on the Texas side of the lake, but that's relatively small potatoes.  Tons of open land between the Red River and Melissa, or Celina, or Denton, or Farmersville, or Decatur, or Greenville, or...Just in that area is as much open land as the entire currently developed areas of 7+ million pop DFW MSA.  It's not going to fill in quickly, maybe fingers up 75 and later the NDTollway, but not enough to push growth into OK for many decades.   

And Alvarado and Ennis actually prove my point.  25 and 30 miles out from the downtowns of FW and Dallas, that actually have been adding subdivisions and industrial jobs.  Alvarado's subs to the north and east are enough to almost double the population (if all were in the city limits).  Note the new subs in Waxahachie, Venus, or south of Midlothian.  But more importantly look at all the infill in the closer in southern suburbs like Crowley, Burleson, southern FW, Mansfield, DeSoto, Glenn Heights, Red Oak, and even new apartments  and subdivisions in the terrible schools of Wilmer.  Close in matters, and lots of open space in between there and the outer 'islands' for more infill that will take decades to build out. 

Same to the east, same to the west.  So while the east side of north may be the fastest growing, other than an isolated few subdivisions (or more likely multi-acre semi-rural subs), it will take 50+ years for it to reach the Red River in the area where a new Lake Texoma bridge would someday be needed.  At least in a manner that would push major growth across to the OK side.

Now the pom-pom waving econ development crowd may get numbers they can wave to proclaim massive growth.  "Littleville, OK has grown 100% in the last decade."  Well with a small base, of say 1,000 people, adding another 1,000 in a decade creates big percentage numbers.  But it is still just an average of 100 per year.  Great for their healthy local growth, but relatively a drop in the bucket in the grand scheme of things.  Things like creating the economic justification for an expensive high bridge across a wide lake.

Perhaps enough recreation, 2nd homes, retirement villages, etc will create a critical mass to get the political will for a bridge in 20 years.  But I think we are more likely to first see an east-west bridge across the narrower arm on the Texas side to reach 377.

[-- US 175 --]

I wonder if the Hard Rock and Margaritaville-Preston Harbor announcements have put any further emphasis on plans like Sherman's to look into interstate status for US 75.

[I-35]

I'm aware of all those developments, but also aware of scale, distance, and development patterns.

The semi-c plants are on the south side of Sherman (there are reasons for that), 17 crow miles from any part of Oklahoma.  The residential subdivision growth resulting from it and the related econ development for the next few decades will be primarily nearby, both Sherman centric and heavily south towards to the new suburbs springing up in Van Alstyn, Anna, and even Melissa.  Parts of Anna may also be 17 miles away, but will be attractive to many because of proximity to DFW amenities, potentially better schools, and more/higher paid jobs for spouses.  Eventually (decades away) the southern/southwestern side will become the least affordable so that some may seek lower prices much further north, but not a significant factor for years to come.  For now Anna and such are affordable housing outlets for McKinney/Plano/Frisco jobs.  And there is and will continue to be for many years even cheaper land to the east, west, and north of Sherman.  Sherman-Denison will boom, but relatively it still won't be huge, there is tons of land, and the Denison side will have a slower rate, being furthest away (and other reasons).  Grayson County was 120k in 2010, 135k in 2020.  Going to 200k, 300k, or even 400k is not going to push much growth to the north side of Lake Texoma.  Too much available land in between to the east, west, and south.

You do realize the Craig development with the Margaritaville has 7,500 homes planned, right?  And that is right up next to the lake.  Not saying growth will leapfrog over to the Oklahoma side, but that immediate area provides favorable terrain, tree cover, and views over many of the flat prairies between Anna and Lake Texoma.  It is also worth pointing out that Durant is the fastest growing city in Oklahoma outside of OKC & Tulsa metros.  It's spilling over.

[Rothman]

Oof.  Us Americans are great at uglifying pretty spots.

[armadillo speedbump]

You do realize the Craig development with the Margaritaville has 7,500 homes planned, right?  And that is right up next to the lake.  Not saying growth will leapfrog over to the Oklahoma side, but that immediate area provides favorable terrain, tree cover, and views over many of the flat prairies between Anna and Lake Texoma.  It is also worth pointing out that Durant is the fastest growing city in Oklahoma outside of OKC & Tulsa metros.  It's spilling over.

But scale.  7500 homes, part retirement and vacation, so maybe 15-20k residents.  300-room hotel, add another 1k, maybe another 1k workers for it and various spinoff support businesses.  How many of those would be commuting to the northwest side of the lake or creating much demand for a bridge from the next peninsula over?  Mville will be 10 miles/10 minutes from the 75 bridge to Oklahoma.  And again, is on the Texas side.  While I left some exceptions for recreation/resort growth, there's all that wide open space all around when you get away from the lakefront hills.  Not going to fill in much for decades.

Durant is part of the much larger Bryan County, OK, which went from 42k in 2010 to 46k in 2020.  A whopping whole + 4,000 people.  Scale matters.  Hence my earlier mention of how percentage growth is misleading with a small population base.  If the county doubles in population this decade that's +46k.  Unlikely, and what percentage of those would regularly use a bridge across the lake the next county over, 15 miles to the southwest of Durant?  (But further driving wise because of the lack of east-west bridges over a northern arm of the lake.)  Other than lakefront property, the first area for significant growth on the OK side of the river will be along 75, not the northwest side of the lake.

This is not at all a knock on Sherm-Den or Oklahoma.  Good for them and their efforts at growth.  I love some of the hilly scenery up there.  Just keeping scale and timeline in a realistic perspective.  It's going to be hard to economically justify a middle of the lake north-south bridge for a long, long time (though politics can sometimes bypass the actual need requirements....)

[In_Correct]

Even if the area population growth has minimal increase, wouldn't the Lake Texoma area still see a drastic increase in traffic any ways ??

[Bobby5280]

I do think the Texas side of Lake Texoma between the US-377 and US-75 bridges is going to fill in with a lot more homes and resorts in the years ahead.

The DFW region is still growing. As Texas continues to attract a lot of high income earners leaving states like California the trend will fuel construction of more resorts, vacation homes, etc on the Texas side of the lake. I think more of the building activity will happen on the East, deeper side of the lake, closer to Denison Dam. I would expect a good amount of growth in the town of Denison itself.

Still, I don't see a case of building another bridge across Lake Texoma. There isn't enough good connecting roads and locations of interest on the other side of the lake, which is unfortunate since Oklahoma has more develop-able miles of shoreline along Lake Texoma.

Look at where the Hard Rock Casino-Hotel resort is proposed. It will be built near US-70, on the West side of the lake where the US-70 bridge crosses. That's well North of all the land points that extend much closer to Texas. The key thing is highway access. US-70 at least has some potential of being improved and even widened. The Hard Rock resort might help make the case to replace that old bridge with a new 4-lane twin span bridge.

I'm not optimistic for any big things to happen on Oklahoma's side of Lake Texoma. I don't consider more casinos to be a "big thing" either. Oklahoma's state government has very little in the way of big picture infrastructure plans for that area (much less the rest of the state). The state's public education system is a sad joke, one that's only going to worsen as they let pop-up charters steal limited funding in fly by night fashion. It's all part of fighting culture wars. The point is: Oklahoma is not a great location choice for a working class family raising kids. Oklahoma's tribal governments aren't any better. They could work together to accomplish some big things. But they don't. No one wants to risk one tribe taking credit for something other tribes did. Here in Lawton I see the Kiowas, Comanches and Apaches disagreeing on all sorts of stuff. Anyway, I think Oklahoma is pretty screwed unless some fundamental shifts in politics happen.

[rte66man]

Well, this newly announced project will certainly necessitate a better connection to US-75, or at least twinning the US-70 bridge across Lake Texoma.

Hard Rock says it's planning to build a 189-room hotel and conference center on Lake Texoma

This is located near Kingston, about 15 miles west of Durant on US-70, and is part of a very large development named Pointe Vista, which has the backing of the Chickasaw Nation.  In a perfect world, an extension of TX-289 up through the Preston peninsula and onto a new bridge across the lake would intersect US-70 very near this project.  I don't see how this could get built without tolling the bridge, though.  There are already ongoing feasibility studies for twinning the US-70 Roosevelt bridge, including a couple of options converting the existing substandard bridge to a ped/bike crossing and adding two new freeway-quality spans parallel to the existing bridge.

https://us70laketexoma.transportationplanroom.com/ Is the project website. If they can figure out the money Alternative 5 is the probable choice.
https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/42c0e769926c4298bb20d622f2b296df

I was wondering about that.  It would be nice if this area was upgraded to full freeway, and perhaps that is still an option with Alternative 5, to tie into the western Durant bypass.

Not gonna happen. A quick glance at US70 from Kingston to the Durant bypass shows a lot of development along either side of the highway, especially east of Texoma. If ODOT can't pay for a new Roosevelt bridge, then they definitely can't pay for a freeway

[Scott5114]

Oklahoma's tribal governments aren't any better. They could work together to accomplish some big things. But they don't. No one wants to risk one tribe taking credit for something other tribes did. Here in Lawton I see the Kiowas, Comanches and Apaches disagreeing on all sorts of stuff. Anyway, I think Oklahoma is pretty screwed unless some fundamental shifts in politics happen.

It sort of depends on the tribe. The bigger tribes tend to be more willing to collaborate on things, especially if it pokes the state government in the eye. The smaller tribes, not so much necessarily.

Keep in mind that some of the tribes have grudges against each other that go back thousands of years for all kinds of complicated reasons. To give one example, the Chickasaw and Choctaw were once one tribe, but split apart hundreds and hundreds of years ago over a disagreement regarding which way a pole was leaning. (Their deity was believed to cause the pole to lean in the direction he wanted them to travel, so it was basically a religious schism.) They've only in the last hundred years or so been able to get past that and work together.

People are people.

[The Ghostbuster]

Speaking of people are people: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzGnX-MbYE4.

[swake]

Oklahoma's tribal governments aren't any better. They could work together to accomplish some big things. But they don't. No one wants to risk one tribe taking credit for something other tribes did. Here in Lawton I see the Kiowas, Comanches and Apaches disagreeing on all sorts of stuff. Anyway, I think Oklahoma is pretty screwed unless some fundamental shifts in politics happen.

It sort of depends on the tribe. The bigger tribes tend to be more willing to collaborate on things, especially if it pokes the state government in the eye. The smaller tribes, not so much necessarily.

Keep in mind that some of the tribes have grudges against each other that go back thousands of years for all kinds of complicated reasons. To give one example, the Chickasaw and Choctaw were once one tribe, but split apart hundreds and hundreds of years ago over a disagreement regarding which way a pole was leaning. (Their deity was believed to cause the pole to lean in the direction he wanted them to travel, so it was basically a religious schism.) They've only in the last hundred years or so been able to get past that and work together.

People are people.

Four of the five "civilized tribes" are Muskogean. The Choctaw and Chickasaw are/were the western Muskogean people and their languages are largely mutually intelligible. They are closely related to the eastern Muskogean people that today are the Muscogee (Creek) tribe and the Seminole Tribe. The Seminole split from the Muscogee during the period of the Creek War, relocation and trail of tears in the early 19th century. The Muscogee and Seminole languages are mutually intelligible.

[BJ59]

https://www.kxii.com/2024/02/05/us-highway-75-construction-coming-north-sherman-denison

[/quote]
SHERMAN, Texas (KXII) - Construction will begin on US Highway 75 in north Sherman and south Denison on February 12 as part of the ongoing expansion project.

This $196 million project will span about four miles from the US Highway 75-82 intersection in Sherman to North Loy Lake Rd. in Denison.

Texas Department of Transportation Spokesperson, Tim McAlavy, said the project will expand the roadway from two lanes to three lanes in each direction.

City of Sherman Spokesperson, Nate Strauch, said that eventually there will be six lanes stretching to the Oklahoma border.


McAlavy said continuous frontage roads will be added and intersections along 75 will be improved.

For this phase of the highway expansion, Denison will see the most changes.

McAlavy said bridges will be reconstructed at FM 691 as well as Iron Ore Creek and Spur 503.

He adds that U-turn bridges will be added to North Loy Lake Road and Spur 503.

[/quote]

[rtXC1]

TxDOT will have to seriously upgrade TX 289 (a former FM road) between Pottsboro and the lake to accommodate a new bridge/causeway, but I'm not against the idea.

Well, it's in the works and a lot of people are not happy about it.
https://www.kten.com/story/49883468/plan-to-widen-state-highway-289-north-from-pottsboro

[rtXC1]

I wonder if the Hard Rock and Margaritaville-Preston Harbor announcements have put any further emphasis on plans like Sherman's to look into interstate status for US 75.

That's been their wish since talk of "closing the gap" in Sherman began over a decade ago. Now that it's nearly complete, I'd like to hear current leadership speak about this move. Here's the last I've seen publicly. https://www.kxii.com/content/news/US-75-stretch-in-Sherman-only-section-in-Texas-not-up-to-interstate-standards-465287963.html

And yes, I-45 can and should simply end at the Red River.

[Bobby5280]

Well, it's in the works and a lot of people are not happy about it.
https://www.kten.com/story/49883468/plan-to-widen-state-highway-289-north-from-pottsboro

Upgrading TX-289 to a 4-lane street with a center turn lane should have been seen as an inevitable outcome for anyone living in that area. As more homes and businesses continue to get built out there the local roads will have to be widened. I would expect Texoma Drive (CR-84) to get similar treatment. Still, that doesn't mean a new bridge is going to be built across that location of Lake Texoma any time soon.

And yes, I-45 can and should simply end at the Red River.

There is zero point at all of extending the I-45 designation North of downtown Dallas if all such an extension would do is end at the Red River. The extension would at least have reach I-40 to be worth doing at all.