driving to dallas (Houston, Fort Worth, Waco: university, safety, land)

[NY to LA]

Hello,

We are planning a road trip to Dallas. We'll drive weekday evening. So I would like to know which highway would be better for us in terms of safety and traffic.

Thanks,

[SteelBubble]

I drive to Dallas very often, and I usually just take I-45 north. I'd suggest that. It's usually a very smooth ride, and the speed limit is 75 once you get out of Houston.

I've taken I-35 once, and from what I've experienced, there's a lot more traffic due to having to pass more cities.

[timtemtym]

I assume you're driving from Houston since you posted in the Houston forum. 45 is the only direct route to Dallas on an interstate or major highway. I've taken a few trips up 290 to 6 to 35 and it was a nice change and pretty. But 45 is way faster with higher speed limits and no small town traffic lights (since it's an interstate). But leaving Houston on a weekday in rush hour to go to Dallas is going to be bad unless you leave early.. like before 3 or before 2 on a friday.

If I'm going to Fort Worth I'll take 287 off of 45 to bypass Dallas. If you're heading to North Dallas then you really have to go through the city since Texas cities do loops instead of bypasses. DFW rush hour is just as bad as Houston's but if you time it right you can miss both.

[thirdcoastnole]

Depends on what side of town you are leaving from. If you are anywhere near Cypress, Katy, SL, etc. I would shoot up to 290-6-35. You get on 35 north of Waco and the traffic isn't bad on that stretch until you get into south Dallas. The other option is like others have said going up 45. But from my experience, the traffic you see on 35 is far less than the 45 traffic getting out of Houston (past Conroe) no matter what time of day..

I travel to Carrollton to visit my brother which is far NW Dallas. The 290-6-35 route takes less time, but it depends really on where you are leaving from and where in Dallas you are going.

[NTexas2010]

Having made this drive at least 40 times in the last 5 years (I'm from Sugar Land and attended the University of North Texas in Denton - North of Dallas), I can confidently tell you that I-45 is your best bet if you're coming from anywhere in the greater Houston area, save for maybe the far reaches west out in Fulshear and even then I would still go up to Madisonville via back roads and hop on I-45 from there. Leaving from downtown Houston, sitting on 290 to get on 6 can be a nightmare if you decide to do this on say a Friday afternoon at 4pm, and to me that route still has you driving out of your way to get to Dallas. Traffic through Fort Worth en route to Dallas is also a headache - why go through two major cities instead of just Dallas?

We used to make the drive from Sugar Land to Denton in 4 hours, 40 minutes with little to no traffic conditions (i.e. Saturday or Sunday afternoon), which translates to about a 4 hour drive from downtown Houston to Downtown Dallas since both our starting and end points (Sugar Land and Denton, respectively) are roughly 20 minutes outside of both downtown areas. And this was before the speed limit was increased to 75mph on the more rural stretches of I-45 north of Huntsville to south of Corsicana.

If you leave late enough, say after 6, you'll make pretty decent time all things considered. Again, ideal would be non-rush hour traffic times.

[NTexas2010]

Also - Once you get about 30 miles south of Dallas and you see the speed limits begin decreasing, obey the speed limit. These towns are speed traps and they will pull you over for going 5 over the speed limit. Drivers beware.

[wclanton423]

I make the trip frequently. 45 North is how I go. Watch out for Madisonville, Ennis, and Ferris. Cops will get you through there. Otherwise find a pack and stick with it. I usually make it from Westbury to Highland Park (just past Downtown Dallas) in 3.5 -4 hours.

[Willsson]

Originally Posted by NY to LA

Hello,

We are planning a road trip to Dallas. We'll drive weekday evening. So I would like to know which highway would be better for us in terms of safety and traffic.

Thanks,

Just a heads up.

I-45 dead ends at downtown Dallas but continues on as US75. You'll have highway change options if you plan a different direction, otherwise 75 heads right on up the middle of Dallas.