Best route to avoid Dallas traffic

Smitty192

Smitty192

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#1
I'll be taking a trip from East Texas to Arizona later this week. I want to avoid Dallas traffic and not lose travel time sitting in traffic. My best guess is that I'll be rolling through Dallas around 7am.

Any suggestions are appreciated.
 
#3
Get to Hillsboro, then you can go up to Weatherford and pick up I-20, or you can cut across through Hico and DeLeon and get on the interstate just west of downtown Ranger.
 
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#14
From Nacogdoches, I'd run to Waco then up 6 or 36 to I-20

There are some small towns on 6 but once you clear them it's back to 70. Some of those small towns are speed traps (Valley Mills)..... It's been a couple months since I have been on 6 South of Meridian, the northern section didn't have any road construction.
 
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#17
From Nacogdoches, if it were me, I'd just find a 4-lane state or national highway, US-79 to US-290 for example, and drive west until you hit I-10. Otherwise, you're driving north to hit I-20, then back south to hit I-10.

Edit: After looking closer, I may take 287 up to Ft. Worth and hit I-20 there. From where you are, there's just no easy way to go west. :unsure:
 
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#18
missed said:
From Nacogdoches, I'd run to Waco then up 6 or 36 to I-20

There are some small towns on 6 but once you clear them it's back to 70. Some of those small towns are speed traps (Valley Mills)..... It's been a couple months since I have been on 6 South of Meridian, the northern section didn't have any road construction.
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The worst part about 6 is not the small towns, it is the 2 lane highway meandering through the hill country, with no passing lane on up-hill stretches.
 
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#19
Srgt. Hulka said:
From Nacogdoches, if it were me, I'd just find a 4-lane state or national highway, US-79 to US-290 for example, and drive west until you hit I-10. Otherwise, you're driving north to hit I-20, then back south to hit I-10.

Edit: After looking closer, I may take 287 up to Ft. Worth and hit I-20 there. From where you are, there's just no easy way to go west. :unsure:
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May not be a bad approach.
 
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#20
If you hit 287 at Ennis and take it across you will stay out of "most" of the traffic, but you will still hit traffic in Ft. Worth at that time of day...

No way to avoid it completely IMO, but 287 to pick up I20 will avoid MOST of the shitty parts of I20.

I live near 287 and I35E in Waxahachie...

I dont venture north of I20 until at least 9 or 10am and I make sure I am back south before about 4pm or I wait until like 8pm.

BUT what I have learned living here is trying to avoid traffic is just a recipe for a screwing. I left my house one time driving to STL at like 4am to beat the traffic through downtown dallas and get north of McKinney... fuck me if it didnt take 2+ hours in bumper to bumper traffic... at 4 fucking AM... So ive just taken the "fuck it" approach and just leave when I want because I figure I am going to get stuck in traffic no matter what.

I left for work in Dallas the other day 20 minutes early because it was supposed to be "rush hour".... I got to fucking work 30 minutes early because there was zero traffic...bull shit...
 
#21
rjacobs said:
If you hit 287 at Ennis and take it across you will stay out of "most" of the traffic, but you will still hit traffic in Ft. Worth at that time of day...

No way to avoid it completely IMO, but 287 to pick up I20 will avoid MOST of the shitty parts of I20.

I live near 287 and I35E in Waxahachie...

I dont venture north of I20 until at least 9 or 10am and I make sure I am back south before about 4pm or I wait until like 8pm.
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I guess it'll be 287 to Amarillo, then west to AZ? Any other options or ideas?
 
#22
Ooooh you are going all the way up to I40....

Yea 287 the whole way...

Once you get on 287 into the Ft. Worth area there are a few ways to go and link back up to 287...

287 hits I20 in Mansfield/Arlington then I35W in Ft. Worth then back to actual 287... about 8 miles north of Ft. Worth.


So yea I would go hit 287 in Palestine then in Corsicana you get on I45 then in Ennis back to 287 then in Ft. Worth take whatever way the google maps traffic says is the least shitty to get around Ft. Worth and link back up with 287. There is a toll tag express lane once you hit I35W in Ft. Worth that is generally not completely fucked like the mainlines are.
 
#23
Red lines are 287 in and out of Ft. Worth. Blue is "287" that is actually I20 and I35W. Green are "alternate" ways to get there. There are obviously other alternate ways, but i think, even taking traffic into account, the juice wouldnt be worth the squeeze. I would rely on google maps or waze live traffic to get me the best route through Ft. Worth.
 

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#24
If you're going through Amarillo, yes, 287 is the way to go. If you're taking I-40 west, you better keep a close eye on the weather. I-40, from what I understand, can become a clusterfuck with ice and snow this time of year. I don't know where in Arizona you're going, but take a close look at I-10. It's a very nice drive this time of year.
 
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#25
Srgt. Hulka said:
If you're going through Amarillo, yes, 287 is the way to go. If you're taking I-40 west, you better keep a close eye on the weather. I-40, from what I understand, can become a clusterfuck with ice and snow this time of year. I don't know where in Arizona you're going, but take a close look at I-10. It's a very nice drive this time of year.
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Sedona Arizona is the end destination. I figured Albuquerque would be a good spot for the end of the first day. I’m really wide open to different routes. I just don’t want to lose time going through Dallas in the morning. I just came back from northern Illinois a couple of weeks ago and thought I was doing myself a favor by leaving at 4 AM. I didn’t account for the time of day I would be rolling through St. Louis. That cost me an extra hour and a half.
 
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#29
rjacobs said:
Red lines are 287 in and out of Ft. Worth. Blue is "287" that is actually I20 and I35W. Green are "alternate" ways to get there. There are obviously other alternate ways, but i think, even taking traffic into account, the juice wouldnt be worth the squeeze. I would rely on google maps or waze live traffic to get me the best route through Ft. Worth.
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Probably right. Go out of my way to avoid traffic is the perfect way to ensure there wouldn’t be any traffic.
 
#32
Srgt. Hulka said:
Edit: After looking closer, I may take 287 up to Ft. Worth and hit I-20 there. From where you are, there's just no easy way to go west.
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Probably your best advice.
287 works.

During rush hour Fort Worth to Weatherford can be slow west to east in the morning and east to west in the evening. But it's only a few miles.

Once you pass Weatherford you can run the 75mph speed limmit
+ 5mph without getting pulled over.

Past the +5 your on your own.
 
#34
Snuby642 said:
Probably your best advice.
287 works.

During rush hour Fort Worth to Weatherford can be slow west to east in the morning and east to west in the evening. But it's only a few miles.

Once you pass Weatherford you can run the 75mph speed limmit
+ 5mph without getting pulled over.

Past the +5 your on your own.
Click to expand...
Probably right
 
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#35
@Aftermath rout does look compelling.

Have always started in DFW area myself.

And you get to go through Ira Ann as a benefit.
Do not make the mistake of pronouncing it as "Iran" to the locals.
 
#36
Snuby642 said:
@Aftermath rout does look compelling.

Have always started in DFW area myself.

And you get to go through Ira Ann as a benefit.
Do not make the mistake of pronouncing it as "Iran" to the locals.
Click to expand...

This is the route I took to Quartzsite, AZ a couple years ago, also in January. Great weather all the way. Many people, including my sister who used to live in Farmington, NM, warned me against taking I-40 in the winter.
 
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#40
missed said:
From Nacogdoches, I'd run to Waco then up 6 or 36 to I-20

There are some small towns on 6 but once you clear them it's back to 70. Some of those small towns are speed traps (Valley Mills)..... It's been a couple months since I have been on 6 South of Meridian, the northern section didn't have any road construction.
Click to expand...

I'll second this route. It might (depending on traffic wrecks) take a few minutes more than going through DFW, but you'll avoid all the random metro madness and just chill out on the back roads. Put the hammer down when you catch I-20 in Eastland.

Clipboard01.jpg
 
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#41
rhsc said:
I'll second this route. It might (depending on traffic wrecks) take a few minutes more than going through DFW, but you'll avoid all the random metro madness and just chill out on the back roads. Put the hammer down when you catch I-20 in Eastland.

View attachment 7775891
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^^^^ This, but I would stay on 84 and pickup the loop South around Waco in Bellmead. It will be faster
 
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