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New Dallas-Fort Worth freeways book, free download

Started by MaxConcrete, July 08, 2012, 02:46:43 PM

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MaxConcrete

(cross-posted to general highway talk)

I'm the author of the Houston Freeways book (2003) and webmaster of DFWFreeways.com and HoustonFreeways.com

I'm pleased to announce that the new eBook Dallas-Fort Worth Freeways, Texas-Sized Ambition is now available for free download.
http://www.dfwfreeways.com/

The book is near-final and I'm hoping to get feedback from the user community before finalizing it.

As you will see, the book has around 520 pages (with dozens of topic-specific excerpts) and covers numerous topics which are well known
* Stemmons Freeway and the John F. Kennedy Assassination
* SH 114 and the Delta 191 Crash
* Texas Stadium Freeways, including the stadium implosion
* Central Expressway and the Telecom Corridor
* Huge freeway celebrations
* Much, much more

Any feedback, especially critical feedback, is greatly appreciated.
www.DFWFreeways.com
www.HoustonFreeways.com


austrini

AICP (2012), GISP (2020) | Formerly TX, now UK

bugo

I've enjoyed what I've read so far (even though I could do with fewer pictures of the Bush family.)

Road Hog

Looks like a great book! Well-designed, very informative and I love the old aerial pictures of pastureland at LBJ!

kurumi

It looks like the same attention to detail and hard work that makes the Houston Freeways book such a joy to read. I've never been to Houston, but still bought the book :-)

I've only been to D/FW twice, and have little to add. Still curious about "missing" interstates 235 and 435. I think the radio station - 820 story might be true, but would love to see something more authoritative.
My first SF/horror short story collection is available: "Young Man, Open Your Winter Eye"

Chris

Amazing, I love the old aerial photos of undeveloped land of what is currently endless suburbia. There is a lot of interesting data as well, I like the construction history of Texas freeways in particular.

TXtoNJ

Max, excellent job on the new book! It does a fantastic job of capturing so many times and places that are now sadly gone. At first, I wasn't sure about the change in tone from Houston Freeways, but eventually, I came to understand just why you made that choice. Thanks again for all the work!

Chris

I can't download Chapter 10: Mid-Cities freeways as a PDF by the way.

Brian556

Exellent book. Love old photos. The more, the better.
BTW- the Ft Worth section quick view isn't working-getting error message.

The DFW Turnpike section was particularly interesting, with all of the signs advertizing the highway. Kinda proves my theory that DNT trailblazers plastered all over north Dallas are there to advertized the highway, esp considering that all the other highways don't get the same treatment.

Concerning the Walton Walker section of Loop 12:
I am finding conflicting info. You state that it was complete as a state highway in 1949. Yet, the 1953 Official Texas Map ( see below) shows a non-state road on this alignment, utilizing the now-abandoned Singleton Blvd across the W Fork Of The Trinity River. There is a gap in my Official map collection, the next one I have is 1957, and it shows Loop 12 complete in this area.


Brian556

Concerning the outer loop:

I have a 1971 Lewisville master plan map (too big to scan) that shows the "Outer Belt Frwy" passing just south of the Lewisville Lake Dam, and running along FM 407.

Concerning Mid-Cities Frwy:

This map shows it crossing FM 3040 at Garden Ridge, then turning west along approximatly Forest Vista Dr.

Concerning SH 121 Lewisville bypass: This map shows it on a different alignment as a non-freeway, leaving original 121 at FM 3040, heading NE crossing I-35E near Corporate Dr, rejoining original 121 near Huffines Blvd.

MaxConcrete

Quote from: kurumi on July 09, 2012, 11:49:32 PM
I've only been to D/FW twice, and have little to add. Still curious about "missing" interstates 235 and 435. I think the radio station - 820 story might be true, but would love to see something more authoritative.

What exactly is the "radio station - 820 story"? I did not uncover that story during my research.
www.DFWFreeways.com
www.HoustonFreeways.com

MaxConcrete

Quote from: Brian556 on July 10, 2012, 02:56:58 PM
BTW- the Ft Worth section quick view isn't working-getting error message.

Quote from: Chris on July 10, 2012, 01:41:13 PM
I can't download Chapter 10: Mid-Cities freeways as a PDF by the way.

Thanks for the reports. I will get those fixed tonight - check again on Wednesday.
www.DFWFreeways.com
www.HoustonFreeways.com

MaxConcrete

Quote from: Brian556 on July 10, 2012, 04:25:28 PM
Concerning the outer loop:

I have a 1971 Lewisville master plan map (too big to scan) that shows the "Outer Belt Frwy" passing just south of the Lewisville Lake Dam, and running along FM 407.

That's definitely interesting. The canceled alignment shown in the book is the alignment from the 1971 regional plan map (page 54). I'm thinking I'll stick with the alignment shown in the 1971 plan since it was more official.

Quote from: Brian556 on July 10, 2012, 04:25:28 PM
Concerning Mid-Cities Frwy:

This map shows it crossing FM 3040 at Garden Ridge, then turning west along approximatly Forest Vista Dr.

I was definitely hoping to find a map which showed the northward path of the Mid-Cities Freeway, and you may have found it. As you can see on page 54, I could only draw the path to the edge of the planning boundary.

Does your map show it going north of FM 407? Did it merge back into IH 35?

Quote from: Brian556 on July 10, 2012, 04:25:28 PM
Concerning SH 121 Lewisville bypass: This map shows it on a different alignment as a non-freeway, leaving original 121 at FM 3040, heading NE crossing I-35E near Corporate Dr, rejoining original 121 near Huffines Blvd.

Interesting that it was proposed as early as 1971. Would it be possible to take a digital photo of that section of the map and email it to me at author@dfwfreeways.com? That way I can mention that it originated as early as 1971 in the SH 121 history section.
www.DFWFreeways.com
www.HoustonFreeways.com

MaxConcrete

Quote from: Brian556 on July 10, 2012, 02:56:58 PM
Concerning the Walton Walker section of Loop 12:
I am finding conflicting info. You state that it was complete as a state highway in 1949. Yet, the 1953 Official Texas Map ( see below) shows a non-state road on this alignment, utilizing the now-abandoned Singleton Blvd across the W Fork Of The Trinity River. There is a gap in my Official map collection, the next one I have is 1957, and it shows Loop 12 complete in this area.

Information on the origins of Loop 12 was very difficult to find. I'll go back to my sources and check if the information in the book is correct.
www.DFWFreeways.com
www.HoustonFreeways.com

kurumi

Quote from: MaxConcrete on July 10, 2012, 09:14:53 PM
Quote from: kurumi on July 09, 2012, 11:49:32 PM
I've only been to D/FW twice, and have little to add. Still curious about "missing" interstates 235 and 435. I think the radio station - 820 story might be true, but would love to see something more authoritative.

What exactly is the "radio station - 820 story"? I did not uncover that story during my research.


Supposedly, Amon Carter, who owned the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and radio station WBAP (820 AM), lobbied for the I-820 number.
My first SF/horror short story collection is available: "Young Man, Open Your Winter Eye"

Brian556

I'll take pics of the Lewisville master plan map tomorrow.

Concerning the SH 121 Lewisville Bypass- the frontage roads from Denton Tap Rd to I-35E were constructed in the 80's, in conjunction with the development of Vista Ridge Mall. A 1986 Aerial photo in my posession shows them under construction. They were designated SPUR 553 until SH 121 was routed over them.

bugo

This is a little off topic, but do you know the answer to this?  I just got a Dallas-Ft Worth map that shows the partially completed US 287 freeway between I-30 and I-820 as I-20.  Was this ever signed in the field?

Here's a map that flaroads posted that shows this freeway as complete and marked as I-20:


bugo


Road Hog

Quote from: bugo on July 16, 2012, 11:38:34 AM
This is a little off topic, but do you know the answer to this?  I just got a Dallas-Ft Worth map that shows the partially completed US 287 freeway between I-30 and I-820 as I-20.  Was this ever signed in the field?

Here's a map that flaroads posted that shows this freeway as complete and marked as I-20:



Way before my time, but judging by the incomplete Loop 820 South, I could see it happening.

The green Turnpike on the map became free in 1977 and now is the present I-30. The present I-20 west of Benbrook (not even shown as a proposed freeway on this map) was built west to Aledo to connect with today's I-30, and I-20 continues west.

I don't know if they changed all the exit numbers on I-30 when this finalized route happened. All I know is today, I-30 is Mile 0 at the I-20 split and Mile 224 at the Arkansas state line.

MaxConcrete

Quote from: bugo on July 16, 2012, 11:42:23 AM
I also cannot download Chapter 10.

Thanks for the error report. It is now fixed.
www.DFWFreeways.com
www.HoustonFreeways.com

Urban Prairie Schooner

Chapter 8, page 365, in the blue box under "Key Dates in the History": Hurricane Katrina occurred in 2005 not 2004. I think this error is also in the text somewhere.

Awesome book otherwise. Enjoyed the historical photos especially.

MaxConcrete

Quote from: bugo on July 16, 2012, 11:38:34 AM
This is a little off topic, but do you know the answer to this?  I just got a Dallas-Ft Worth map that shows the partially completed US 287 freeway between I-30 and I-820 as I-20.  Was this ever signed in the field?

That's interesting. I checked my historical sources to see if I could find any mention of IH 20 being aligned on US 287, but I could not find confirmation. (However, news reports rarely include such information.)

IH 20 between Dallas and Fort Worth opened in 1975.
IH 20 (the part that forms the Loop) in southwest Fort Worth was completed in 1982. It provides a connection to present-day IH 30 (which was originally IH 20).
The IH 20 connection from IH 30 west of Fort Worth to IH 820 in southwest Fort Worth did not open until 1986.

So, it seems likely that US 287 was signed as IH 20 from 1975 to 1982. With the 1982 completion of the Loop section of IH 20, traffic was probably routed along the south and west loop to present-day IH-30.
www.DFWFreeways.com
www.HoustonFreeways.com

MaxConcrete

#22
Quote from: Urban Prairie Schooner on July 17, 2012, 07:46:25 PM
Hurricane Katrina occurred in 2005 not 2004. I think this error is also in the text somewhere.

Thanks for spotting that error. I have corrected the text and posted the updated version on the book web site.
www.DFWFreeways.com
www.HoustonFreeways.com

wtd67

Great job!!!  I love all the old photos and the side stories; the airports, Six Flags, Texas Stadium, etc.  Makes me wish that more historical photos were more accessible online.  I am very happy to see that you took the time to compile all of this and look forward to when you are finished.

You may want to post requests on the Fort Worth Architecture Forums (http://www.fortwortharchitecture.com/forum/) to get photos in the Fort Worth/Arlington area if you haven't already.

MaxConcrete

It has been just over a year since the original release of the preliminary version of the book, and yesterday I posted the final version online including a single PDF document with the 540-page book, as well as a convenient quick view of the entire book. (Still free download)

http://www.dfwfreeways.com/

I also posted a post-mortem report for the book, providing details on the market survey during the past year and the failure of the book to attract interest. The level of interest has been far below the 2003 Houston Freeways book and worse than a worst-case scenario for interest when the book was released.

http://www.dfwfreeways.com/dfwfreeways-book-post-mortem-report.html

In short, my opinion on the reasons for the failure are (see link above for more details)
Main reason

  • Less interest in the subject of freeways in Dallas-Fort Worth as compared to Houston
Contributing Factors

  • The subject of freeway history is past its peak
  • Lack of promotion or publicity
  • Lack of a printed book or integrated eBook
  • Efforts to attract a wider audience backfired
  • Associated historical topics were a bust
Other Possible Factors

  • Book title and especially the subtitle
  • Lack of a second opinion during writing
  • Inconsistent quality of the product
  • Free distribution may have devalued the perception of the product
Since the only feedback I received about the book during the past year was from  AARoads forum participants, I'm certainly interested in any opinions why it failed. Harsh critics are encouraged to reply. You can also respond to the quick survey question on the home page.

www.DFWFreeways.com
www.HoustonFreeways.com



Opinions expressed here on belong solely to the poster and do not represent or reflect the opinions or beliefs of AARoads, its creators and/or associates.