Getting thru Dallas

[Rich S]

We are getting ready to head South for the winter. Does anyone have a good way to get thru Dallas North to south? I have been thru many times but it seems always lanes closed construction, making it a nightmare.
We come down 69,75 from Ok and spend a night in Waco. I was thinking going 635 to I 20 to I35e but never taken that route. It will be late on a Sat afternoon.
Any help or ideas?

[RSchleder]

We spend a couple of weeks each Winter in Dallas visiting our Son. All I can do is wish you GOOD LUCK! Off peak hours , mid-night would be the best, are your only shot at getting North to South without a "ton" of traffic slowdowns/delays.

[si camper]

If you're wanting to avoid Dallas and don't mind secondary roads, would 69 to 34 work for you?

[DKRITTER]

Originally Posted by Rich S

We are getting ready to head South for the winter. Does anyone have a good way to get thru Dallas North to south? I have been thru many times but it seems always lanes closed construction, making it a nightmare.
We come down 69,75 from Ok and spend a night in Waco. I was thinking going 635 to I 20 to I35e but never taken that route. It will be late on a Sat afternoon.
Any help or ideas?

There are a lot of roads going into an out of DFW it would help if you gave us a better idea of where you're coming from and where you're going.

[bubbles]

Originally Posted by DKRITTER

There are a lot of roads going into an out of DFW it would help if you gave us a better idea of where you're coming from and where you're going.

He's coming down 75 and going to Waco.

[rjshiflet]

First - my advice would be to AVOID 75 in Plano/Dallas at all costs!!! :-) And I would avoid I-35 south of Dallas/Fort Worth to Waco and Austin as well. Construction there is horrible continually.

On a Saturday I would be tempted to take 380 west at McKinney to Denton, then come down I-35W into Fort Worth rather than Dallas.

But then to avoid 35 further south I would take Loop 820 west (as you first get into Fort Worth) to I-30 West (which becomes I-20) and go out to Hwy. 281 down through the Texas Hill Country. We love that route and it is a relaxing, beautiful trip. There are a few small towns, but no big delays.

Especially if you're headed to Corpus Christi/Rockport/Port Aransas or further south in Texas - that's a great route.

[Mr. Dan]

Originally Posted by rjshiflet

First - my advice would be to AVOID 75 in Plano/Dallas at all costs!!! :-) And I would avoid I-35 south of Dallas/Fort Worth to Waco and Austin as well. Construction there is horrible continually.

On a Saturday I would be tempted to take 380 west at McKinney to Denton, then come down I-35W into Fort Worth rather than Dallas.

But then to avoid 35 further south I would take Loop 820 west (as you first get into Fort Worth) to I-30 West (which becomes I-20) and go out to Hwy. 281 down through the Texas Hill Country. We love that route and it is a relaxing, beautiful trip. There are a few small towns, but no big delays.

Especially if you're headed to Corpus Christi/Rockport/Port Aransas or further south in Texas - that's a great route.

I would 'second' this advice with one modification. I wouldn't wait until US380 to go west. With the significant SPRAWL of Plano, etc., to the northwest, US380 is now a serious collection of traffic signals. I would take US82 west from Sherman (off of US75) and take I35 south toward Ft. Worth (watch for the I35E/I35W split in Denton and take the right split for I35W). I certainly agree with the US281 comments. We take that road every year when we trek to see April wildflowers around Marble Falls, Johnson City, etc.

[DKRITTER]

Originally Posted by bubbles

He's coming down 75 and going to Waco.

The reason I asked the question is so that possibly it might be better to take a different route entirely than down 75 and spending the night in Waco.

There are a lot of ways to completely miss DFW and even a few good ways to get through it.

[clr]

I used to go down 69 also going south for the winter. The best route that I found from 69 is to go south to 75 then turn w on 82 to 35 south. Stay on 35 south thru Fort Worth.
Check to make sure most of the construction is completed around 35 and 820 I understand that it is now.
This route is MUCH better then trying to go thru Dallas on 75.

Where are you starting from and where are you going. I now take a different route to go south that avoids both Dallas and Huston?

[BandJCarm]

Why do we Americans put up with the almost surreally awful and interminably slow method of using OUR tax dollars to repair OUR roads?? We just somehow think it's normal and explainable........

Fix one mile of road, in one week, then move to the next mile. If it has a 10 lane bridge involved, you get 3 weeks. Put however many folks on it that it takes. Actually require them to work every day, like the rest of us do/did. If you can't do it in that time frame, you don't get paid.

[TeachTexas]

Construction on I35W from Hwy 177(Alliance Airport) south to Everman Rd. exit in South Fort Worth. There are many scheduled closings and detours coming. You can see all the planned road work at Lane Closure Information for North Tarrant Express (NTE) .
The crossroads of I35W and I820 are a major headache almost any time of day on any day.

[gondrej]

Sunday morning. There is not much traffic on Sunday mornings.

[Rich S]

Thanks for the help. Still not sure what way to go. We are coming from central Mo. to Rockport tx. We drove down about a month ago to see if our park was OK. We took I 35w thru Ft Worth and it was just as bad as Dallas. Construction had backups for miles.
Has anyone took a route from Joplin down and thru Houston? Part of my problem is I have trouble driving at night. Vision is not what it used to be.
Still open to any and all ideas.

[T11ravis]

Originally Posted by gondrej

Sunday morning. There is not much traffic on Sunday mornings.

Exactly what I was about to say. We were there for the Florida/Michigan game in September and got up earlier than we wanted to Sunday morning to head home as we were worried about traffic. The roads were wide open at 8am!

[rjshiflet]

To be able to avoid Fort Worth too - since I know your ultimate destination...I would do as Mr. Dan said and take 82 but instead of going over to 35 keep going and at Jacksboro you'll hit Hwy. 281 and then just go south.

I would take 1604 around San Antonio to avoid lots of traffic there (regardless of the time of day) and narrow lanes.

Get off of 1604 onto Hwy. 181 and that takes you down to Sinton, TX where you can jump on Hwy. 188 that takes you directly into Rockport.

That route would avoid Denton, Dallas, Fort Worth, Waco, Austin, San Antonio, Houston - all the major cities and having driven that route many times I can attest it's a relaxing and enjoyable drive.

But, ultimately it's your choice.

(We did the drive through Houston suburbs ONE time...never again!!!)

[Gearitis]

Originally Posted by Rich S

Thanks for the help. Still not sure what way to go. We are coming from central Mo. to Rockport tx. We drove down about a month ago to see if our park was OK. We took I 35w thru Ft Worth and it was just as bad as Dallas. Construction had backups for miles.
Has anyone took a route from Joplin down and thru Houston? Part of my problem is I have trouble driving at night. Vision is not what it used to be.
Still open to any and all ideas.

You may think this is nuts, but I am from Central Missouri, Carrollton to be exact. I now live in Waco, TX and have for 40 years. My dad now lives in Texarkana, TX and he is 84, anyway last August my dad and I went to Carrollton, to the old home place to see the Eclispe, and what we did was go up and back down 65 highway from Carrollton, MO to Conway, AR, then loop around Little Rock and hit I40 on down to Texarkana. It actually was not that far out of the way, beautiful country, and the road was a little curvy but really not that bad. Made decent time as I only drive 65 at the most. If you are going to Rockport then at Texarkana, you can jump on US 59, which is 4 lane most of the way, and head south.

The Bad Road construction on I35 is south of Waco from Bruceville-Eddie MM 317 thru Temple mm 299. It is mostly a tunnel, with concrete on both sides, uggg.

Now in Waco, they will be starting a construction project within the next few months from the North side of Waco to the South, widening to 4 lanes and rebuilding all overpasses and bridges. There currently is some construction around the Baylor Mclane Stadium, right at the Brazos River, for new side roads and also traffic decongestion due to The Silos from the "Fixer Uppers".

[DKRITTER]

Originally Posted by Rich S

.... Still not sure what way to go. We are coming from central Mo. to Rockport tx...

I really like Google Maps on my computer because you can easily drag a route around and see what happens. There have been several threads of late from folks coming from up north through the great state of Texas.

DFW traffic can be a nightmare 24/7 but I agree Sunday mornings are the least risk. Right now and for the foreseeable future 35W in FTW is a disaster then from Waco to Temple on 35 is torn up. I'll say these 2 areas are off my list to tow through. Oh, avoid 35 through Austin it can easily take half a day, so bring a samich.

There have been a few threads about US281 out of Wichita Falls, Tx and it is a great road. It completely keeps you out of the mess of North and Central Texas and some less than stellar roads in Oklahoma.

Take a look at this route;

I-44 thru Joplin, Tulsa, OKC, Lawton and into Wichita Falls then get on 281 all the way to San Antonio then over to Rockport.

Going this way puts you in some of the best parts of Texas, I'd spend several weeks working my way down.

[TeachTexas]

Originally Posted by T11ravis

Exactly what I was about to say. We were there for the Florida/Michigan game in September and got up earlier than we wanted to Sunday morning to head home as we were worried about traffic. The roads were wide open at 8am!

Unfortunately even Sunday becomes a nightmare when they close 35 for lane realignment or bridge work. When they do this it runs from 9pm Saturday until 5am Monday. You have to check the construction updates to avoid getting caught in one of those times.

[TeachTexas]

Both rjshiflet and dkritter have good ideas for a route down.

[CedarCreekWoody]

I suggest staying on hwy 69 down to Greenville, then I30 to 635, tben down to I20 over to I35 on to Waco. No construction in those areas and multi lanes wide. (Hwy 69 is two lane, but light traffic) I routinely use the hwy 69 route to go around Dallas (I live east of dallas.)