Why no cities on I-45 like there are on I-35? (Houston: 2015, colleges)

[Weatherguy]

I-35 between San Antonio and Dallas is an overwhelmingly unpleasant drive. City after city, slow traffic, large trucks that wall you in. It's a nerve wracking experience. Getting through Austin can be a huge undertaking at most times of the day.

I used to drive I-45 from Houston to Dallas, and always enjoyed the drive. The lack of development made it pleasant, as well as pine forests from Houston to at least Huntsville. Then pleasant, hilly hardwood forests from there until somewhere south of Dallas, where the land becomes rolling grasslands with interspersed trees.

I've wondered the same thing as the OP. Just glad I-45 is still nice.

[R1070]

The widening of I-45 is going to make the drive even more pleasant.

[Need4Camaro]

Originally Posted by R1070

The widening of I-45 is going to make the drive even more pleasant.

Will it look like I-35 in the end? Most people hate I-35 but I personally like I-35. The 75 MPH speed limit, 3 lanes each way, exurban / suburban.

[LocalPlanner]

Originally Posted by Need4Camaro

Will it look like I-35 in the end? Most people hate I-35 but I personally like I-35. The 75 MPH speed limit, 3 lanes each way, exurban / suburban.

There are long, long stretches of I-45 that have 2 lanes - pretty much Corsicana to New Waverly, right? It will be many years before there's 3 lanes all the way to Dallas.

[Need4Camaro]

Originally Posted by LocalPlanner

There are long, long stretches of I-45 that have 2 lanes - pretty much Corsicana to New Waverly, right? It will be many years before there's 3 lanes all the way to Dallas.

Does it ever get congested?

[LocalPlanner]

Originally Posted by Need4Camaro

Does it ever get congested?

In my experience, only where there's construction going on, so...no. I-10 and I-35 have both always seemed more congested to me.

[2nd trick op]

Originally Posted by lotophage

None of those cities sprung up along the interstates, they all predate the interstates, in some case by a hundred years. You forgot Huntsville on I-45 that is as big as San Marcos, and Conroe which is bigger than Temple. But the main reason is simply lack of water. The I-35 corridor is braided with rivers. The I-45 corridor isn't.

Yep!

No water, no agriculture.

No agriculture, no trade.

No trade, no growth.

[R1070]

Originally Posted by LocalPlanner

There are long, long stretches of I-45 that have 2 lanes - pretty much Corsicana to New Waverly, right? It will be many years before there's 3 lanes all the way to Dallas.

I think all of Navarro County is done or will be done soon. I also thought they were widening the Walker County section. After that, the plan is to widen the middle section left.

[bmlx]

Really, I-45 has no towns of significance between Huntsville and Corsicana; all of the towns within that stretch are small towns. The larger towns (and cities) are found only within or close to the periphery of the Houston and DFW metros. The I-45 corridor SW of Dallas is the least developed freeway corridor in DFW, so the I-45 corridor basically stays rural almost all the way to Dallas; by comparison, coming from the north, the Houston area's suburbs basically start over 40 miles before downtown Houston (around Conroe, basically). In all fairness, however, the DFW suburbs also start at roughly the same distance north of downtown Dallas along the US-75 corridor (Melissa area).

[Frustratedintelligence]

Originally Posted by lotophage

None of those cities sprung up along the interstates, they all predate the interstates, in some case by a hundred years. You forgot Huntsville on I-45 that is as big as San Marcos, and Conroe which is bigger than Temple. But the main reason is simply lack of water. The I-35 corridor is braided with rivers. The I-45 corridor isn't.

It's interesting though that the Sabine never gave birth to any major population centers, despite once being an important waterway. Marshall used to be one of the largest, most advanced cities in Texas, bigger than Dallas and Austin at one point. Today it's just a small town frozen in time.