Best route around Dallas? .......... Destination Flower Mound (Mesquite, Tyler: apartment, construction)

[Paige2]

We'll be traveling from Florida to Texas by car in a couple of weeks. Our final destination is Flower Mound. We'll be staying overnight in Shreveport, LA, then continuing on the I-20 W.
We made this trip in January '09 and the GPS took us to Mesquite onto the I-635 N to Flower Mound. We swore we'd never do this again. It was on the day an ice storm blew in, but I imagine the 635 is a little bit of hell even in good weather. We really would like to avoid it.

Any suggestions for a less stressful route around Dallas to Flower Mound? We have no time constraints and wouldn't mind a longish detour. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

[Dragonfly8]

The only thing I can think of.....

Off of I-20 W take SH 205 north. This is just west of Terrell.

Take Hwy 66 west off of SH 205.

I'm not sure of the street name but it connects to the Bush Turnpike which will take you to Flower Mound.

[derekv]

What time do you plan on leaving Shreveport? I think 635 would be an ok route so long as you don't hit it between 7-10am and 3-7 pm. Here is an alternate route, however still quite a few chances for traffic: from:Shreveport, LA to:32.834597,-96.898041 to:flower mound, TX - Google Maps

[ETex2]

Very hard to avoid and get to Flower Mound reasonably fast.

Going the above mentioned route by exiting SH 205 just west of Terrell, after you turn left (west) on SH 66, proceed to Rowlett Road then turn right. It becomes Firewheel Parkway and intersects with SH 190 (Bush Turnpike) several miles to the northeast. This is a tollway that will take you to I-35.

Or you could just stay on I-20 and inteconnect with US Highway 80 just west of Terrell (near the SH 205 exit), and stay on Hwy. 80 - it merges with I-30 in Mesquite. Take I-30 to the downtown mixmaster then I-35 North. Of course, during certain parts of the day this area becomes quite clogged as well.

If it were me, I'd just take 635 and avoid peak rush hour traffic.

[JS1]

Originally Posted by ETex2

Very hard to avoid and get to Flower Mound reasonably fast.

Going the above mentioned route by exiting SH 205 just west of Terrell, after you turn left (west) on SH 66, proceed to Rowlett Road then turn right. It becomes Firewheel Parkway and intersects with SH 190 (Bush Turnpike) several miles to the northeast. This is a tollway that will take you to I-35.

Or you could just stay on I-20 and inteconnect with US Highway 80 just west of Terrell (near the SH 205 exit), and stay on Hwy. 80 - it merges with I-30 in Mesquite. Take I-30 to the downtown mixmaster then I-35 North. Of course, during certain parts of the day this area becomes quite clogged as well.

If it were me, I'd just take 635 and avoid peak rush hour traffic.

Bingo!

Labelling 635 as unworkable because there's an ice storm is like asking if the Pope is Catholic. Every freeway in Dallas will stop in an ice storm.

[momof2dfw]

The straightest shot is LBJ/635. While it is congested it is the "straightest shot" to get from the east side of Dallas to Flower Mound.

Instead of taking Hwy 205 off of I-20 and dealing with ALL of the construction in Rockwall and kind of backtracking down to 190 there would be a bit of an easier way as long as it is NOT afternoon rush hour. Afternoon rush hour and all bets are off no matter which route you go.

Here is what way I'd go instead: Take LBJ/635 (north then west) to Central Expressway/I-75. Go north on 75 (we don't put "the" in front of the highway numbers ) till you reach 190 aka George Bush Turnpike which is a tollroad (see below). Take 190 West to I-35 North. Instead of ALLLLLLL of the lights AND road construction you would have to deal w/ on 205, Hwy 66, Rowlett Rd and Firewheel Pkwy and slower moving traffic THRU the city you would actually be on a highway.

190 aka George Bush Turnpike: While it is a tollroad most of us have tolltags. The NTTA (North Texas Toll Authority) just went TOTALLY CASHLESS. You do NOT stop at ANY tollbooth to pay any toll whatsoever. Whenever you go under a "toll booth" it will take a picture of your license plate, trace it to the owner and then they will bill you. No digging for quarters or change, no stopping at all at any tollbooths, etc. Just keep on moving. Traffic on 190 goes a LOT smoother than LBJ.

[bluescreen73]

Or you could take I-20 to US 69 outside Tyler. Take 69 north to Greenville. Hop on US 380 West out of Greenville to I-35 in Denton, then take I-35 south to I-35E, and I-35E south to Flower Mound. Zero tolls, far around Dallas and unless you're making the trip during the morning rush you won't hit a whole heck of a lot of traffic.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&sour...68&ie=UTF8&z=8

[ETex2]

Originally Posted by bluescreen73

Or you could take I-20 to US 69 outside Tyler. Take 69 north to Greenville. Hop on US 380 West out of Greenville to I-35 in Denton, then take I-35 south to I-35E, and I-35E south to Flower Mound. Zero tolls, far around Dallas and unless you're making the trip during the morning rush you won't hit a whole heck of a lot of traffic.

from:Shreveport, LA to:Joe Ramsey Blvd N/US-69 to:33.220308,-97.157593 to:Flower Mound, TX - Google Maps

Yea but that stretch of the loop getting from US380 down to I-35 has been under construction for how long? - 10 years maybe. And you're looking at huge delays there.

[bluescreen73]

Originally Posted by ETex2

Yea but that stretch of the loop getting from US380 down to I-35 has been under construction for how long? - 10 years maybe. And you're looking at huge delays there.

Whoops...I didn't zoom in enough. Stay off 288 south. In fact it might even be faster to take 288 north to I-35 then head south. You'll miss downtown Denton completely.

[Paige2]

Thank you, one and all, your suggestions are very much appreciated!

It's mostly a pleasure trip, we'll be there for a whole month and no deadline to meet, and I'm certain that with all the possibilities you so kindly suggested here, we'll get to Flower Mound without going on I-635 or using it only part way. The Greenville suggestion is appealing too. If we're really tired on the last day of our trip, we might just take that one. We'll work on all the different scenarios you suggested with our hard maps and google maps tonight.

I also appreciate the explanation of the toll collection procedure. I'd have never guessed that routine billing is done via camera ID. On FL tollways, if you're ID'ed via camera and contacted, you've run a toll or your electronic pass malfunctioned and there are serious consequences. I can just imagine us looking frantically for a toll collector to avoid breaking the law, and there isn't one anywhere. Very helpful info!

We'll be house/apartment hunting this trip .... it's nice to know that our future neighbors are so helpful. Am also sure that once we live in or near Dallas for a while, we'll laugh at our fear of I-635.

Thanks again.