REAL commute times to downtown (Dallas, Carrollton: best, ranch, tollway)

[lpepping]

Originally Posted by kallie26

This thread is REALLY helpful. Can I add a few more specific questions? I had already gotten the impression that the tollroad and 75 were terrible to commute in on from anywhere north, but I had then started looking more at the Lower Greenville or Las Colinas areas. Lower Greenville is closer to downtown, but is it still really bad because it's off 75? OTOH, Las Colinas is a bit farther distance-wise, but is the commute to downtown more predictable/manageable than being off the Tollroad? It seems from the map like you could jump off 35E if needed and come towards downtown on Harry Hines, but maybe that's not at all feasible in reality.

Thanks.

I live on lower greenville and it takes me about 10 mins to get to work downtown. I take Ross Ave to get there. There is no need to get on 75.

[Lakewooder]

I took my mother to an appointment at Baylor Hospital today and it took us 9 minutes from leaving house (Lakewood) until we were parked in the Baylor garage. We had enough time to drive around the lake and have lunch at Matt's afterwards - before I went to work.

BTW, Oil hit $93 bbl today.

And Marsh and Arapaho is still distant from downtown. I think it would take 45 minutes for me to get that far north (I would probably go up Hillcrest and take Forest across to Marsh).

[unexpected]

Okay, I'll go from a different barometer point. I set my record from Downtown (75 and Lemmon) back to Plano (Tollway and Spring Creek) this weekend. I was able to do it in 19 minutes.

This was at 4 am, and I was flying (averaging 85-95). On a normal night, when I'm in less of a rush, it can take about 25 minutes. I don't think it can be done any faster than that.

For a more congested time period, I can go to 75 and Monticello from the opposite direction (so against the grain) in about 30-35 minutes if I leave at 6:20 pm. When I did this last week, the traffic going the other direction looked awful.

Since you're coming from Allen, the only data point I can give you is this: 2 in the morning, 75 and park to 75 and Northpark - that took 16 minutes.

Sorry, I don't do the commute you're looking for on a daily basis, but hopefully this helps with "absolute best case" scenario. If you get times lower than these, they're crazy, mainly because I think these are crazy.

As for my driving style, I'm pretty fast. Surprisingly, I've only gotten 1 speeding ticket (for going down spring creek, ugh.)

[lh_newbie]

Originally Posted by unexpected

Surprisingly, I've only gotten 1 speeding ticket (for going down spring creek, ugh.)

You know that's the kiss of death, right? You're going to get a ticket this week for saying that.

[unexpected]

Originally Posted by lh_newbie

You know that's the kiss of death, right? You're going to get a ticket this week for saying that.

I know. I was thinking about that as soon as I wrote it. To make myself feel better, I ordered my first radar detector momentarily thereafter.

[MountainPharmD]

Last night I drove from Forest and Marsh to Allen at 5pm. I took I-635 to 75 then 75 to Stacy road. From the parking lot to the driveway of one of the houses we are looking at off Stacy road it took 54 minutes.

[Lakewooder]

unexpected you should have been here in the early 1980s when the Dallas North Tollway was the Dallas Autobahn. During the boom everyone had all these BMWs, Porsches and Mercedes and it was kind of open at night - I had a BMW and got passed several times going 100 mph. Of course drinking and driving was tacitly accepted back then and you could even drink in your car.

It was pretty much known you weren't going to get a ticket on the tollway.

[kallie26]

Bumping this thread to give some more information now that I have moved here...

We are in Dallas/Richardson near Coit and Spring Valley and commute downtown every day. I have found that 75 moves surprisingly well for having high volume. Unless there's an accident, getting on 75 south of the High Five, it takes no more than 20-30 minutes to get downtown (I've tried this leaving at any time between 7:30 and 9), and in the evenings even though the traffic moves a bit slower, I still haven't found it more than about 30 minutes. With an accident (which I try to keep abreast of by listening to AM1080, which is like WTOP in DC with the "Traffic on the 8s"), more like 40-45. With no traffic (after 9 a.m. or after 7 p.m. I would say), it's only about 15 minutes tops. In sum, I would say this commute has been completely reasonable - I have heard Central used to be much, much worse, but it seems much better than I expected here so far.

Seems like it's a bit different if you get on 75 north of the High Five (from Allen, Plano, etc.) Also, most of the accidents/backups I hear on the radio in the morning seem to be around the 35E/DNT/635 area. Every morning it seems like it's a half-hour from Frisco just to Addison, and a full hour from Mesquite around to Farmers Branch. Now that I've found a good spot traffic-wise, I'm reluctant to move to a different area of the Metroplex - but will have to as I definitely wouldn't buy where I'm at right now!

Anyway, thanks to others for the traffic reports here - just wanted to contribute my experience now.

[Grainraiser]

The one disadvantage of living in Plano/McKinney/Frisco is the commute. There are only to main roads that will bring you to downtown and both of them are packed. In fact just about any burb you live in is going to require a long commute. Unless you are willing to move in closer or have odd work hours there is no way to avoid it.

[Moving South?]

How long does it take, on average, from Valley Ranch into downtown in the morning, and then return in the evening? Thanks.