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DFW: US 380 freeway in Collin and Denton counties

Started by MaxConcrete, April 26, 2018, 10:38:06 PM

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MaxConcrete

All the options under study are now online
http://www.keepitmovingdallas.com/projects/us-highways/us-380-feasibility-studies

The main surprise is that all options feature a freeway on the east side of Mckinney, a northward extension of SH 5 which for most options runs along the west side of McKinney airport. This connection will somewhat mitigate the alignment inefficiency of all the north bypass options.

The green and pink options follow the existing US 380 alignment (I don't know why there are two options, maybe they vary in terms of being on the north or south side of the existing road.)

The other options all have swerving bypasses, generally about 2 miles north of McKinney and Princeton, and 1 mile south of Farmersville. I think the blue option is the best of the bypasses, since it forms the cleanest loop around McKinney. (Red also forms a loop, but it is a crazy alignment. Yellow connects to the north side of the loop.)

I hesitate to predict the outcome, since I have no idea who has the most influence (neighborhoods, City of Mckinney, Collin County, TxDOT).
I prefer the green/pink option on existing US 380 since it is the most efficient and direct. But I don't know if you can get it through McKinney due to opposition.
If I was compelled to make a prediction, I'm thinking it will be Blue in the McKinney area and either blue or green/pink east of McKinney.

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/collin-county/2018/04/26/txdot-gives-nervous-collin-county-residents-look-possible-routes-freeway-relieve-us-380-traffic
www.DFWFreeways.com
www.HoustonFreeways.com


Chris

A Draft Environmental Assessment has also been published for US 380 in Denton County: https://www.txdot.gov/inside-txdot/get-involved/about/hearings-meetings/dallas/0424180.html

In this plan US 380 would be expanded to six lanes from Denton to the Collin County line, but will have only partial grade-separation, so it won't be a freeway.

QuoteNew grade separations are planned at Legacy Drive, Teel Parkway, Navo Road, Farm-to-Market (FM) 423, and FM 720. Existing bridges at Little Elm Creek and Doe Branch would be widened.

txstateends

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In_Correct

Any Rural People In Collin County should not expect any Rural Life in Collin County. Collin County is growing. Also, Rural People must know that if you want to live a Rural Life, almost every body else does also. This means they will be surrounded by neighbors and a septic system. The worst of both worlds. And also perhaps expensive electricity, expensive groceries, expensive commute, and expensive Internet. But with expansion in Collin County and even more increase in future, there will not be any Rural Areas in Collin County.

But if U.S. 380 has many opposition from every proposed alignment, perhaps they should upgrade the existing alignment similar to U.S. 287 in Decatur.
Drive Safely. :sombrero: Ride Safely. And Build More Roads, Rails, And Bridges. :coffee: ... Boulevards Wear Faster Than Interstates.

Bobby5280

Are there actual plans to upgrade US-287 inside Decatur to a real freeway? I've seen plans for a US-287 freeway upgrade from the US-380 interchange to about a mile North of there, but nothing south of that intersection into Decatur. Existing US-287 through there sort of works like a freeway, but has all kinds of driveways and other junk connecting into the main lanes. A new freeway style exit was recently completed on the South side of Decatur.

Regarding US-380 between Denton and McKinney, I agree it's a fantasy for anyone to think they protect some kind of isolated farm life style in that area. In more rural parts of the country that kind of existence is becoming harder to afford due to the cost of infrastructure, utilities, lack of good quality Internet access, etc. More and more people are going to get pushed into cities whether they like it or not.

It's really too bad TX DOT and planners in Colin and Denton counties didn't at least widen US-380 twenty years ago. In the 1990's US-380 between Denton and McKinney was barely developed at all. They could have easily turned US-380 into a divided 4-lane highway with a big median for a future freeway. Such a thing was still do-able in 2005. Since then business and residential development has simply exploded. The short freeway upgrade they're doing from the DNT to Preston Road is one of the few areas that hasn't been swallowed up with development.

I think some parts of US-380 can be upgraded to a freeway. Doc Creek & FM-423 on East to about FM-2478 (N Custer Rd) might still be do-able. I think upgrading US-380 through McKinney would end up being too expensive and disruptive. Residents would not stand for an elevated freeway. An at-grade freeway would eat a lot of existing properties. New freeway bypasses leaving US-380 would be necessary to get through both Denton and McKinney.

txstateends

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txstateends

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Bobby5280

The one thing the "higher density" living proponents just can't seem to get past is EXTREME COST of mass transit systems for those philosophies of living. Sure, building a freeway is pretty expensive. But freeways seem like a cheap bargain compared to the prices of light rail and subway systems. Those things are very ridiculous. On top of that, we have a douche-bag class-based society where anyone able to avoid mass transit to make himself look more affluent will do so. And I'm throwing out that one as a voice of experience from living in New York City for 5 years. Plenty of douches there would never soil themselves with riding the subway or a city bus. They had to at least be in a cab or car service if they weren't driving their own vehicles.

At the same time, I have a very difficult time finding sympathy for TX DOT as well as the Collin and Denton County governments for being so dead asleep at the wheel on development of US-380. I have lived in this Red River region for nearly 25 years. As far back as 1993 any idiot could have predicted US-380 was going to need some serious expansion. The very least thing they could have done was the same thing they did with TX-121 between Lewisville and McKinney over 20 years ago: build a wide 4-lane divided expressway with at-grade intersections, but with a huge median. Today TX-121 has a big super highway in the middle of it where that blank median used to be. The same thing should have been done with US-380. And I'll give you another. A bunch of US-82 needs the very same treatment, at the very least between Gainesville and Sherman (if not from Sherman clear over to Paris, TX).

About 10 miles of US-380 between Denton and McKinney could still be converted into a superhighway without much trouble (because there is still room to build). But screw this waiting 5 or more years crap. TX DOT needs to get on the stick pronto and at least grab the ROW from short-sighted developers. It's clear both Denton and McKinney would have to be looped with freeways rather than have them run right through the middle where corridors are too narrow and over-developed.

Inside either city as well as other parts of Collin and Denton counties traffic engineers will have to get more creative about filtering traffic. It's one thing to have a nice, speedy freeway. But a key thing that causes traffic backups that back up onto the freeways is what happens on the surface streets. Better planning has to happen there. Really busy intersections need grade separation or even freeway style interchanges rather than traffic signals. Driveways that spill out onto the main thoroughfares have to be far more tightly controlled and limited. Any major street should have as few driveways and intersections as possible. An optimum 4-lane expressway with at-grade intersections will only have intersections at traffic signals spaced a mile or more apart. Neighborhoods and shopping centers adjacent to the expressway would be more self-contained with fewer entrances and exits. Traffic would filter itself in a more controlled manner. With a well enough designed setup some areas of an urban or suburban center could even avoid the need of building a far more costly freeway if traffic was managed more intelligently.

Some North Dallas neighborhoods and shopping center developments do a decent job of limiting & filtering traffic entrance and exit onto major thoroughfares. Development in many parts of Houston is older and thus not nearly as advanced in terms of traffic engineering. Far more surface streets and driveways are dumping traffic directly out onto main streets and highways in an uncontrolled manner. That leads to those Houston traffic jams that can occur any time of day (or night) and which fuel nightmares. One accident on a surface street near a freeway exit could lead to a snarl that blocks traffic on the freeway itself. I've personally been through that scenario.

The point with all this is freeways alone will not un-snarl traffic in the metroplex. DFW is still very much a car-centric metro and will be for many years to come. That's a call-back to that class argument about who uses mass transit. I wasn't too proud to use the bus, ferries and subway when I lived in NYC but I knew others who wouldn't do that. Douchebags. But that's reality. People love their cars. Street layouts have to be designed better to handle it. Planners need to grow a much stronger backbone and enforce some damned rules on development. Business douches can't just build a driveway entrance wherever they like. The streets and highways have to work like a circulatory system for business. That requires intelligent planning from building high capacity, high speed freeways and toll roads down to surface street networks that work far more efficiently than some stupid, dopey grid where everything craps out directly onto the main drag.

Chris

Quote from: Bobby5280 on May 02, 2018, 01:38:59 AMThe one thing the "higher density" living proponents just can't seem to get past is EXTREME COST of mass transit systems for those philosophies of living.

People don't move to Collin County in search of high-density living. If they were, they'd be moving to San Francisco, Downtown Seattle or Manhattan. People actually want these affordable, detached single-family houses. These high-density, anti-suburban advocates are so out of touch with reality...

NE2

It's nice to have the privilege to be insulated from the effects of your choices.
pre-1945 Florida route log

I accept and respect your identity as long as it's not dumb shit like "identifying as a vaccinated attack helicopter".

thisdj78


Brian556

Quote from: Bobby5280 on May 02, 2018, 01:38:59 AM
The one thing the "higher density" living proponents just can't seem to get past is EXTREME COST of mass transit systems for those philosophies of living. Sure, building a freeway is pretty expensive. But freeways seem like a cheap bargain compared to the prices of light rail and subway systems. Those things are very ridiculous. On top of that, we have a douche-bag class-based society where anyone able to avoid mass transit to make himself look more affluent will do so. And I'm throwing out that one as a voice of experience from living in New York City for 5 years. Plenty of douches there would never soil themselves with riding the subway or a city bus. They had to at least be in a cab or car service if they weren't driving their own vehicles.

At the same time, I have a very difficult time finding sympathy for TX DOT as well as the Collin and Denton County governments for being so dead asleep at the wheel on development of US-380. I have lived in this Red River region for nearly 25 years. As far back as 1993 any idiot could have predicted US-380 was going to need some serious expansion. The very least thing they could have done was the same thing they did with TX-121 between Lewisville and McKinney over 20 years ago: build a wide 4-lane divided expressway with at-grade intersections, but with a huge median. Today TX-121 has a big super highway in the middle of it where that blank median used to be. The same thing should have been done with US-380. And I'll give you another. A bunch of US-82 needs the very same treatment, at the very least between Gainesville and Sherman (if not from Sherman clear over to Paris, TX).

About 10 miles of US-380 between Denton and McKinney could still be converted into a superhighway without much trouble (because there is still room to build). But screw this waiting 5 or more years crap. TX DOT needs to get on the stick pronto and at least grab the ROW from short-sighted developers. It's clear both Denton and McKinney would have to be looped with freeways rather than have them run right through the middle where corridors are too narrow and over-developed.

Inside either city as well as other parts of Collin and Denton counties traffic engineers will have to get more creative about filtering traffic. It's one thing to have a nice, speedy freeway. But a key thing that causes traffic backups that back up onto the freeways is what happens on the surface streets. Better planning has to happen there. Really busy intersections need grade separation or even freeway style interchanges rather than traffic signals. Driveways that spill out onto the main thoroughfares have to be far more tightly controlled and limited. Any major street should have as few driveways and intersections as possible. An optimum 4-lane expressway with at-grade intersections will only have intersections at traffic signals spaced a mile or more apart. Neighborhoods and shopping centers adjacent to the expressway would be more self-contained with fewer entrances and exits. Traffic would filter itself in a more controlled manner. With a well enough designed setup some areas of an urban or suburban center could even avoid the need of building a far more costly freeway if traffic was managed more intelligently.

Some North Dallas neighborhoods and shopping center developments do a decent job of limiting & filtering traffic entrance and exit onto major thoroughfares. Development in many parts of Houston is older and thus not nearly as advanced in terms of traffic engineering. Far more surface streets and driveways are dumping traffic directly out onto main streets and highways in an uncontrolled manner. That leads to those Houston traffic jams that can occur any time of day (or night) and which fuel nightmares. One accident on a surface street near a freeway exit could lead to a snarl that blocks traffic on the freeway itself. I've personally been through that scenario.

The point with all this is freeways alone will not un-snarl traffic in the metroplex. DFW is still very much a car-centric metro and will be for many years to come. That's a call-back to that class argument about who uses mass transit. I wasn't too proud to use the bus, ferries and subway when I lived in NYC but I knew others who wouldn't do that. Douchebags. But that's reality. People love their cars. Street layouts have to be designed better to handle it. Planners need to grow a much stronger backbone and enforce some damned rules on development. Business douches can't just build a driveway entrance wherever they like. The streets and highways have to work like a circulatory system for business. That requires intelligent planning from building high capacity, high speed freeways and toll roads down to surface street networks that work far more efficiently than some stupid, dopey grid where everything craps out directly onto the main drag.

I love how you are so straight forward about things.

SH 121 between Denton and McKinney was 4-lane divided (with standard non-wide median) in Denton Co, but somewhere in Collin County, it was only two lanes before becoming a freeway. And, boy was it awful.

txstateends

Now county commissioners in Collin Co. want voters to pass a $750 million transportation bond, but only part of it would help US 380.

https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/Collin-Co-Commissioners-Eye-750-Million-Transportation-Bond-481900381.html?
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Road Hog

Quote from: txstateends on May 07, 2018, 10:55:44 AM
Now county commissioners in Collin Co. want voters to pass a $750 million transportation bond, but only part of it would help US 380.

https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/Collin-Co-Commissioners-Eye-750-Million-Transportation-Bond-481900381.html?
Well, the eastern leg of the Collin County Outer Loop is in the works already, at least with some frontage road segments. Maybe that highway should be expedited to handle both needs.

txstateends

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Road Hog

A free US 380 freeway around north McKinney would just about make the Collin County Outer Loop redundant and unworkable. Methinks the city and county need to sit down and compare notes.

MaxConcrete

#16
The newest refinements were revealed tonight at the public meeting

http://www.keepitmovingdallas.com/projects/us-highways/us-380-feasibility-studies

Highlights

  • Public comments strongly support the freeway by a 3:1 margin. There also appears to be strong support for an alignment along the existing US 380.
  • There are now two remaining alignment candidates: Existing US 380 (Green alignment) and the Red Alignment, which has the bypass route around McKinney, Princeton and Farmersville. It appears any or none of the bypasses could ultimately be recommended.
  • Corridor right-of-way widths have been reduced to typically be between 330 and 350 feet. While this is unfortunate, it is probably a necessary trade-off to get the project built with available funding. However, the Green alignment shows a section of extremely narrow right-of-way between Custer and Ridge roads, which looks too narrow to support a freeway but could be the 240-foot-wide ROW depiction shown in the presentation.
  • The Green alignment through McKinney would be depressed in a trench from US 75 to SH 5, about 1.5 miles. There would still be a very substantial right-of-way clearance.
  • For the Spur 399 extension connection in the vicinity of McKinney airport, both options (east and west of the airport) are still candidates.
  • Overall cost for the options ranges between $2.12 and $2.46 billion, with the Green options about 8-10% more expensive.

The Green option has a lower environmental impact but far more business displacements (about 10 times as many). Most of the criteria rating icons favor the Red Alignment. Economic development is also cited as a decision factor, and that favors the Red Alignment since it crosses more vacant land and would promote more economic development.  That rationale was used for the selection of the longer alignment for the northeast Bush Turnpike.

www.DFWFreeways.com
www.HoustonFreeways.com

Brian556

Quote from: MaxConcrete on October 05, 2018, 12:17:27 AM
The newest refinements were revealed tonight at the public meeting

http://www.keepitmovingdallas.com/projects/us-highways/us-380-feasibility-studies

Highlights

  • Public comments strongly support the freeway by a 3:1 margin. There also appears to be strong support for an alignment along the existing US 380.
  • There are now two remaining alignment candidates: Existing US 380 (Green alignment) and the Red Alignment, which has the bypass route around McKinney, Princeton and Farmersville. It appears any or none of the bypasses could ultimately be recommended.
  • Corridor right-of-way widths have been reduced to typically be between 330 and 350 feet. While this is unfortunate, it is probably a necessary trade-off to get the project built with available funding. However, the Green alignment shows a section of extremely narrow right-of-way between Custer and Ridge roads, which looks too narrow to support a freeway but could be the 240-foot-wide ROW depiction shown in the presentation.
  • The Green alignment through McKinney would be depressed in a trench from US 75 to SH 5, about 1.5 miles. There would still be a very substantial right-of-way clearance.
  • For the Spur 399 extension connection in the vicinity of McKinney airport, both options (east and west of the airport) are still candidates.
  • Overall cost for the options ranges between $2.12 and $2.46 billion, with the Green options about 8-10% more expensive.

The Green option has a lower environmental impact but far more business displacements (about 10 times as many). Most of the criteria rating icons favor the Red Alignment. Economic development is also cited as a decision factor, and that favors the Red Alignment since it crosses more vacant land and would promote more economic development.  That rationale was used for the selection of the longer alignment for the northeast Bush Turnpike.

I am very surprised that they would even consider using the existing alignment thru McKinney, given the amount of ROW clearance needed.

Also, this link is only for Collin Co. Have they done any public meetings for Denton County?

Bobby5280

I, too, am surprised the "green" alternative of using the existing US-380 alignment would be considered. On the other hand, the "red" alternative is not without its problems. The red alignment would take far fewer properties; however, much of those properties would be private/residential. That could actually be more touchy than bulldozing a bunch of businesses next to an existing busy highway. Displacing commercial businesses for a new freeway/tollway just takes paying the business owners enough for the property and perhaps to relocate. They're not going to have the same sentimental attachment to a workplace as one does for a home.

Regarding the narrow 240-wide ROW, that's still plenty wide for a freeway. There are existing stretches of Interstate highway that squeeze through about half that corridor width. The first couple miles of I-88 in Binghamton, NY is a good example. That one has just two lanes in each direction, but it is flanked by frontage roads too. To get a little extra breathing room they could either elevate or trench the main lanes for a stretch and have them partially hand over or under the frontage roads. North Central Expressway in Dallas has a couple of stretches where the frontage roads hang over the main lanes. I could see them hanging frontage roads over main lanes through central McKinney, if not capping over the freeway completely.

Road Hog

Another strike against the red alignment is it takes 380 within just a couple of miles of the planned Collin County Outer Loop. Two very expensive east-west corridors so close to each other will not be a good look for taxpayers.

DJStephens

#20
Quote from: Bobby5280 on May 02, 2018, 01:38:59 AM
The streets and highways have to work like a circulatory system for business. That requires intelligent planning from building high capacity, high speed freeways and toll roads down to surface street networks that work far more efficiently than some stupid, dopey grid where everything craps out directly onto the main drag.

A gridiron is what has "saved" locations such as Albuquerque, Tucson, and Phoenix (pre 1990) from being completely choked by traffic without planning for additional freeway mileage other than the bare minimum.   Based on the Chicago model, four to six lanes wide, intersections with other arterials exactly one mile apart.   

mrsman

And not just having a grid, but designing the grid intelligently.  Traffic is fine if spread out, not when everyone is using the same freeway.  At grade expressways are so much cheaper, I wish they were used more.

Nexus 5X


Brian556

They are having constant accidents with frequent fatalities on US 380 in eastern Denton County. They residents in the area are all very upset about it and are signing a petition to TxDOT to fix it. Pretty much all the residents in this area are new, and their moving to the area caused the problem.



sparker

Quote from: Brian556 on December 03, 2018, 12:11:16 AM
They are having constant accidents with frequent fatalities on US 380 in eastern Denton County. They residents in the area are all very upset about it and are signing a petition to TxDOT to fix it. Pretty much all the residents in this area are new, and their moving to the area caused the problem.




So -- is the issue with US 380 that it is not a freeway, or is simply inadequate for its current situation?  Has there been a determination of LOS for the most problematic stretch of highway?  If this is indeed a rapidly growing area -- with a correspondingly increasing tax base -- the problem should be to a large extent self-solving (unless politics, local and otherwise, intervenes).  It has seemed that the expansion of metro DFW has been largely northward via infill between the more established towns (Denton, Frisco, McKinney), encouraged by the placement or expansion of N-S arteries (free and toll) connecting the nascent development to the regional core.  It's not at all surprising that US 380 is now serving multiple roles as the principal E-W artery through the developing region; while a freeway may be the most obvious solution, unless ROW has been reserved by agreement between developers and the various jurisdictions, selecting an alignment and getting it built may be problematic. 

Bobby5280

Quote from: sparkerSo -- is the issue with US 380 that it is not a freeway, or is simply inadequate for its current situation?

Both.

Adding to the problem is the lack of certain safety features along stretches of US-380. The road is a 5-lane undivided urban style street going West from Dallas North Tollway into Denton. Some of the intersections have traffic signals and street lights. Many other intersections (and driveways) are not lighted. That can be a big problem at night. Significant stretches of the road (the ones that would be easiest to upgrade into a freeway) are really dark at night. Combine that with the bright glare of lots of oncoming headlights in the opposing lanes. The situation makes it difficult to see a car whip out in front of you, either turning right or going across the lanes to turn left. There's no median barrier. Just a center turn lane.

It's shouldn't surprise anyone that the rate of serious and fatal collisions would increase on that part of US-380. Lots of big subdivisions are adding big numbers of homes nearby.

The obvious short term "cheap" solution is adding street lights and at least flashing yellow signals at intersections along US-380 currently not lighted and not controlled. That might cut down on some of the fatal collisions. But really the US-380 corridor needs a massive Interstate quality upgrade from Decatur & US-287 clear over to Greenville and I-30. The upgrade has to start with Denton to McKinney and stretch out to Decatur and Greenville. In the long term that's going to be a vital East-West corridor for North Texas and the North half of the Dallas Fort Worth metroplex. TX DOT can't wait until all this development is surrounding Lake Ray Roberts (north of Denton) with big tracts of McMansions. They should have been starting work on this corridor 20+ years ago. It was obvious back then that this situation was coming.



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