Dallas North Tollway - North

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North

This view looks north on IH 35E (Stemmons Freeway) at the exit for the Dallas North Tollway (DNT). Northbound motorists heading to the tollway get a direct off-ramp to the DNT while drivers southbound must first merge onto the west frontage road before joining the Stemmons.

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Traffic from IH 35E and McKinnon Street north from Downtown Dallas combines at a wye interchange. The first mainline toll plaza was located one half mile further north.

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A large toll schedule with the circular T logo for Tolltag preceded the toll plaza. The North Texas Tollway Authority (NTTA) introduced toll tags in 1989. It was the first electronic toll collection system in North America.

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This view looks northbound at the former southern entrance toll plaza for the DNT. Construction at the time removed the toll plaza and replaced it with an overhead automated toll collection gantry

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North from the 2008-opened ramp for Lemmon Avenue, the DNT enters Highland Park and passes below Bordeaux Avenue. The ensuing exit lies 0.75 miles ahead at Mockingbird Lane.

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Northbound at the diamond interchange with Mockingbird Lane. Mockingbird connects to some of the wealthier areas of Dallas and its Highland Park enclave. Additionally, Mockingbird provides a main route west to Dallas Love Field (DAL), the home base of Southwest Airlines.

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Advancing north from Mockingbird, the next exit is a half diamond interchange at Lovers Lane. Most of the exits on the earliest sections of the DNT built are half diamonds. At that time, and even today, the bulk of traffic travels to and from Downtown - so northbound access was not seen as important.

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University Boulevard spans the DNT one half mile south of Lovers Lane. Lovers Lane is a suburban street through University Park.

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This "butterfly" style gantry sits at the DNT exit northbound for Lovers Lane. The area around this exit is eclectic with many small shops and the old Inwood Theatre, known for its great midnight movies on the weekends.

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The next exit northbound on the tollway is for Northwest Highway, Loop 12. The first section of the road to be constructed was built up to this point in December of 1967, when all traffic had to exit. The DNT was built over old railroad right-of-way, which was very narrow. Some adjacent houses had to be purchased and demolished, but the right of way is still very narrow. Today, it is unlikely the DNT can ever be widened because of the very close-in nature of its surroundings in this area, and million dollar-plus houses to each side.

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The DNT northbound at Northwest Highway. Known as Preston Center, a crop of 20-ish story skyscrapers surround this exit. Preston Center has one of the highest occupancy rates for offices in the Dallas area, and is known for being the most expensive area to rent office space.

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Beyond Northwest Highway, the close in fill nature of the surroundings spreads out somewhat. This area is called Preston Hollow, and is (like Highland Park and University Park just to the south) one of the most exclusive residential areas of Dallas.

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Advance signage for Walnut Hill Lane at the Park Lane overpass.

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The DNT northbound at Walnut Hill. This area of the DNT, from Northwest Highway up to IH 635, opened in the summer of 1968. The toll for the entire route was 50 cents at that time, which was then considered quite expensive.

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The next exit northbound on the tollway is Royal Lane. This advance signage is typical on the older portion of the DNT, with two signs referencing the succeeding off-ramp.

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The DNT northbound at Royal Lane. Royal is suburban arterial through North Dallas, running from the DFW airport area in the west all the way to IH 635 in the east.

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The succeeding exit along the DNT north is with Forest Lane, another suburban arterial.

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The DNT shifts westward from Royal Lane to the Northaven overpass. The infrastructure in this area dates from the 1960s. Originally concrete, the Tollway was repaved with asphalt in stages from 2002-2005.

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The DNT northbound at Forest Lane. Early efforts to rename the DNT as the "Dwight D. Eisenhower Tollway" failed.

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The right of way along the DNT north past Forest expands into a wider footprint. A large power-line corridor runs along it for much of its length through here, a legacy from when this route was a railroad.

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The half diamond interchange with Harvest Hill Road is the next exit. Harvest Hill is a short road with town homes and office parks that connects in the east to Preston Road (SH 289), the old main route to the north.

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The last exit northbound before IH 635 is with Galleria / Alpha Roads and the Galleria, Dallas' largest mall. This exit was added in a large construction project in 1984 that also saw the addition of an elevated frontage road structure.

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The DNT northbound at IH 635 (LBJ Freeway). This exchange was built as a cloverleaf in 1968, the year both roads opened. It remains one of the few cloverleafs left in the DFW area. No control points are given, seemingly common at most 3-digit loop freeways in this region.

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The DNT northbound at IH 635 west. Apart from some shoulder enhancements and frontage road additions, the interchange has not changed very much since. Construction of the IH 635 TEXpress lanes did not include access to the DNT.

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The next northbound exit is for Spring Valley / Quorum / Verde Valley. The latter two streets are minor and serve to connect the adjacent business district to the Tollway. North from IH 635 to Belt Line, the DNT opened on December 3, 1986.

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The Philip Johnson designed Saks Fifth Avenue facade at the Galleria is visible along the east side of the elevated roadway, as the DNT glides past Dallas' largest shopping mall. Cameras on this overhead assembly were installed in 2005 and serve to monitor traffic conditions on the road.

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The DNT northbound at Spring Valley. This marks the beginning of the large Addison commercial district, complete with many corporate headquarters and large regional offices. Also here, one of the power line corridors that previously followed the DNT for a few miles veers away to the west.

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A view of the DNT north of Spring Valley, showing various office towers.

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Advance signage for the off-ramp to Belt Line and Arapaho Roads.

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The DNT northbound exit for Belt Line / Arapaho departs across from the corporate headquarters of Pizza Hut. Belt Line forms a 96 mile loop around Dallas County and is one of the most important arterials in the Metroplex. This particular section of Belt Line runs into the suburb of Addison and its famous restaurant row, featuring just about every possible type of dining choice.

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Additional office towers adjacent to the DNT, included the corporate headquarters for what was CompUSA on the left, and Greyhound Bus lines on the right.

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Passing under Belt Line, the DNT advances north one half mile to Keller Springs Road and Westgrove Drive.

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The sunken section just north of Belt Line was an engineering headache. Delays meant that this section of the DNT opened somewhat later than expected, in 1987.

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This sign warned of the second northbound mainline toll plaza on the DNT at Keller Springs. The circular T logo meant that the left two lanes are for electronic tolltag users only. The governing body of the road, the NTTA, eventually eliminated all toll plazas and moved to an all-automated system. The Keller Springs Toll Plaza especially backed up at peak periods, causing a bottleneck that often persisted for many miles in each direction.

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The DNT continues below grade and passes under the Cotton Belt Railroad. The Addison Circle urban district is just to the west. This particular Cotton Belt line was purchased by the Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) authority, which studied turning it into a light rail line.

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Before the Keller Springs Toll plaza, another overhead sign indicated the left two lane restrictions for TollTag users only. Drivers bound for Keller Springs / Westgrove departed here. Keller Springs runs west to the Addison Airport toll tunnel, also run by the NTTA. Opened in February of 1999, the tunnel takes motorists under Addison Airport (ADS).

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The Keller Springs Toll plaza, opened in 1987. This view looked north through the TollTag only lanes.

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This view looks north along the DNT before Trinity Mills / Briargrove. The far right lane was added in 2005 and extends north of the toll plaza to Trinity Mills.

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Continuing toward the half diamond interchange with Trinity Mills Road west and Briargrove Lane.

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The DNT northbound at Trinity Mills / Briargrove. Trinity Mills Road roughly follows the border between Dallas and Collin Counties, and this is where the DNT moves into Dallas County's northern neighbor. There are no noticeable signs along the toll road, marking the county boundary.

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A diamond interchange joins the DNT with Frankford / Haverwood in one quarter mile.

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The DNT northbound at Frankford / Haverwood. Frankford runs west through Carrollton to end at an exit along IH 35E, and east into Richardson. Haverwood is a minor residential street, serving an array of apartment complexes to the immediate east.

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Progressing north from Frankford, the DNT next meets the President George Bush Turnpike (PGBT). "President" is prominently featured in the title of the road because the name was added to the proposed road in 1994 before George W. Bush became president. It was added at that time to distinguish between the ex-President and the then governor.

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Replaced interchange sequence sign at the Frankford Road on-ramp. The "brick" style tollbooths along the DNT between here and Plano were demolished during the AET conversion.

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