Collin and Denton County Outer Loop

[Road Hog]

The routes all basically duplicate FM 428 on either side of Aubrey up to the point where it dips south toward Denton. I just hope they keep the old Elm Fork pedestrian bridge.

[Road Hog]

Update:

The entirety of the 9-mile CCOL segment from Custer Road to US 75 is completely striped and signed, and just waiting for the barrier to go away. Just a matter of the local county commissioner deigning to appear for a ribbon-cutting.

[05danper42842]

Hopefully they start working also on extending eastward and southward getting the frontage road built. Collin County is is ahead of the game. Of out all counties involved in the outer loop I think laufman county will get there first phase built since they expect to have there Final Environmental Assessment/FONSI is expected to be finished/completed by early 2026.

[MaxConcrete]

The materials for today's public meeting are online.

Fact sheet (with map)

Observations

• The four alternatives from the previous meeting remain. None have been eliminated.
• There have been minor tweaks to the four alternatives. This is covered in the fourth presentation slide
• The corridor remains consistently 500 feet wide. However, one option for segment C, called the stacked option, has a drastically reduced corridor width at the Elm Fork crossing, presumably to reduce environmental impact. I don't like this option, I hope the "compressed" option is selected.
• The median is generally 84 feet wide.
• The schematics show long bridges over creek crossings.

[MaxConcrete]

Here is a status update for the northeast section. According to the article, the preferred alignment should be identified by summer 2026.

Looking at the map, the study area corridor is a north-south corridor between Princeton and the intersection of SH 121 and the Outer Loop. This is the new alignment planned in the NCTCOG long-term plan. The dotted red route is the original loop route which has been suspended, but will probably be reactivated in the future.

Collin County officials are continuing work on the Collin County Northeast Freeway Study, a long-range transportation project intended to improve mobility in a rapidly growing area of the county.

The county has partnered with LJA Engineering Inc. to conduct preliminary design and environmental studies for a proposed freeway that would run approximately 10 miles, connecting State Highway 121 with the future U.S. 380 Princeton Freeway. The study began in summer 2025 and is expected to take about two years.

The project is in the early planning phase, with no route selected. A preferred alignment is expected to be announced in spring or summer 2026, after a series of public meetings and a public hearing. Officials said the study will evaluate current and future traffic volumes, safety concerns, and the potential effects of both constructing and not constructing the freeway. Transit, bicycle and pedestrian needs will also be reviewed.

[Road Hog]

The sooner they get this built, the better. East-west mobility in Collin County sucks. Even now with the CCOL frontage road extended to US 75, you have to double back westward to continue east no matter what route you choose. The only alternative is straight through traffic hell in McKinney.

[Plutonic Panda]

It looks like the total costs project is gonna come close to $8 billion:

https://www.keepitmovingdallas.com/projects/us-highways/us-380-collin-and-denton-county?fbclid=IwdGRleAPgFZJleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAo2NjI4NTY4Mzc5AAEecMghpl7_qr1mUSv3VvVxKqgjXry20jmrWyIr-90PnzwXDvWKaaPu0URggO4_aem_aIBJzQ2HZJlqxqKVdOA-LA

[MaxConcrete]

It looks like the total costs project is gonna come close to $8 billion:

https://www.keepitmovingdallas.com/projects/us-highways/us-380-collin-and-denton-county?fbclid=IwdGRleAPgFZJleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAo2NjI4NTY4Mzc5AAEecMghpl7_qr1mUSv3VvVxKqgjXry20jmrWyIr-90PnzwXDvWKaaPu0URggO4_aem_aIBJzQ2HZJlqxqKVdOA-LA

$8 billion is the estimated cost of the US 380 project, which includes Spur 399. Of course that number is subject to change.

US 380 is totally separate from the Collin County Outer Loop. I don't recall ever seeing an estimated cost for the ultimate Outer Loop. The main lanes are planned to be built far in the future (post 2040).