Interstate 35

[wxfree]

I consider it to be one continuous route, with divided sections along the corridor.  I like what TxDOT did at the new Hillsboro interchange, not having exit numbers for either route, because neither route is an exit, but each is a continuation.  I suspect they'll do the same thing in the new Denton interchange.  Through traffic lacking a driver preference for one or the other can go either way and know that they both go to the same place.  That's what a divided route ought to do.

[US 81]

I grew up in Texas always aware of I-35 E & W in DFW. As a child road-geek, I remember puzzling about why and how this came to be. [Remember, I'm an old fart, this was in the pre-internet days when historic stuff of this nature was much more difficult to research]  Eventually I reasoned - guessed, really - that the Ft. Worth routing must have been the "preferred" route as it was straighter and shorter, therefore was the "real" I-35; Dallas, being so much larger, must have had the political pull to keep the I-35 name rather than be a loop/spur route. Simplistic, of course, but I still have a preference for short/direct/straight routing. (e.g. In LA, I-10 v I-12 really 'bugs' me)

The idea of the "parkway" section of I-35E in SP niggles a bit, too. If it's got the Interstate shield, it doesn't feel right for it not to be up to Interstate standards, IMHO.

[DevalDragon]

In Texas, 35W always seemed newer, quicker and easier to drive that 35E.  The new 30/35W made 35W the best option for thru traffic. I imagine the new 30/35E interchange will be just as nice, when/if they ever get finished with it.

Is 35W newer than 35E, or just a better design?

[wxfree]

The section of I-35W in south Fort Worth was rebuilt in, I believe, the 80s, so it's nice and modern. The whole route through Dallas is old and not well designed.  North of the southern junction with Loop 12, it's full of broad, sweeping curves, and a few pretty sharp ones.  The stretch in north Fort Worth is also old and inadequate for the traffic, but is at least of relatively straight alignment.  This section is being rebuilt, so 35W will still be the route with better design.

There are plans to rebuild I-35E from US 67 to Loop 12 in the 2017 to 2030 timeframe, excluding the Mixmaster currently under construction.  I'm sure that will help, but they're pretty well stuck with a less-than-ideal alignment.  I'd say 35W is both newer (or soon will be) and of better design.  The speed limit is scheduled to be set at 70 all the way through Fort Worth after construction is finished.

[kkt]

Fort Worth and Saint Paul would bitch too hard about not having a mainline interstate pass through them.

What are I-20 and I-94, chopped liver?

[TR69]

Could I-35 in the DFW Metroplex have simply been routed N/S in between the two cities, via Arlington? The cities could then be accessed via I-30/I-20 or some other short spur.

[txstateends]

Could I-35 in the DFW Metroplex have simply been routed N/S in between the two cities, via Arlington? The cities could then be accessed via I-30/I-20 or some other short spur.

Then they'd *both* bitch about being neglected in the process of doling out north-south interstates.  With the political history each city has had (local, state, federal), it is doubtful that either city would have lost out on something as economically important as interstate placement... something would have been done to hinder any process of an in-between interstate while lobbyists and landowners along alternate paths would have made regular trips to Austin and/or Washington to plead the case for a different route (or routes).

[US 81]

Could I-35 in the DFW Metroplex have simply been routed N/S in between the two cities, via Arlington? The cities could then be accessed via I-30/I-20 or some other short spur.

Both were built on the footprint of pre-existing US highways, (35E = US 77, 35W = US 81 & US 377) so there was already some ROW rather than going thru the whole design/land acquisition/NIMBY headaches than would have ensued.