Interstate 20 in

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

(I-20) is a major east–west

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in the

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, running east from a junction with I-10 east of Kent, Texas, through the

Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex The Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, officially designated Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, is the most populous metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. state of Texas and the Southern United States, ...

to the

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state line near Waskom, Texas. The original distance of I-20 was from I-10 to the Louisiana state line, reduced to the current distance of with the rerouting of I-20 in the 1980s and 1990s. I-20 is known as the Ronald Reagan Memorial Highway within the

History

I-20 in Texas was designated in 1959, and was to replace or run parallel to U.S. Route 80 (US 80). Initial construction began from east to west and as bypass loops around larger cities. By 1967, the highway was complete from the Louisiana state line to the western side of Fort Worth on a route to the south of US 80, with slower construction in the lesser populated areas of West Texas concurrent with US 80. On December 2, 1971, I-20 was rerouted across the southern side of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, with the old section through downtown Dallas and Fort Worth being redesignated as I-30. In 1991, the entire concurrent designation of US 80 was removed from the I-10 interchange to Dallas.

Route description

West Texas

I-20 begins its eastward journey at a junction with I-10 in a desolate region of West Texas about east of the town of

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

. I-20 leaves the interchange with I-10 with a speed limit of until milemarker 89. I-20 also generally heads to the east-northeast passing by the cities of

Odessa ODESSA is an American codename (from the German language, German: ''Organisation der ehemaligen SS-Angehörigen'', meaning: Organization of Former SS Members) coined in 1946 to cover Ratlines (World War II aftermath), Nazi underground escape-pl ...

and Midland while transitioning from the West Texas desert to the prairie. I-20 runs concurrently with the

La Entrada al Pacífico La Entrada al Pacífico is a trade corridor designated as "Trade Corridor 56" by the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act. The corridor is an international project between Mexico and the United States as a route from the Pacific Ocean ...

corridor from its junction with US 385 in Odessa to its junction with Farm to Market Road 1788 (FM 1788) near Midland International Airport. Near Sweetwater, I-20 begins to head east as it heads toward the city of Abilene. In Abilene, I-20 curves toward the north and transverses the northern part of the city while also forming the northern arc of the loop around the city. I-20 continues heading east from Abilene until the town of Eastland when I-20 takes a more northeasterly route toward Weatherford while transitioning from the West Texas prairie to the central plains of North Texas as the terrain grows hilly. In Weatherford, I-20 again heads back toward the east as it heads toward the

Dallas–Fort Worth area

I-20 interchanges with I-30 west of Fort Worth with I-30 heading east and I-20 to the southeast. I-20 heads back toward the east when it interchanges with I-820. I-20 forms the southern arc of the complete loop around the city of

Fort Worth Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Te ...

, and serves as the southernmost west–east freeway in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Interchanging with I-35W south of downtown Fort Worth, I-20 heads east toward

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

passing through Arlington, where it is also known as the

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

Memorial Highway.But see also US 190, another road which has been designated the Ronald Reagan Memorial Highway. From Arlington, I-20 passes into Dallas County at Grand Prairie and heads east in to Dallas, interchanging with I-35E south of downtown and I-45 shortly after. I-20 intersects with I-635 (where it completes a three-quarter loop around the city) on Dallas' southeast side before heading east toward East Texas. The Interstate varies from 4 to 10 lanes from its I-30 junction near Aledo to its US 80 junction near Terrell.

East Texas

I-20 leaves the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex and heads generally to the east-southeast through East Texas. I-20 begins heading to the east as it passes to the north of the city of Canton. The intersection of I-20 at US 69 in Lindale just north of Tyler is the highest traffic count intersection on I-20 east of Terrell to the Louisiana state line. From Lindale, I-20 continues east, going through the piney woods region of East Texas intersecting US 259 with Kilgore to the south and Longview to the north and US 59 future I-369 with Marshall just to the north and Texarkana further north along US 59 future I-369. I-20 leaves the state of Texas near Waskom and just west of the Shreveport, Bossier City, Louisiana area.

Auxiliary route

I-20 has one auxiliary route in Texas. * I-820 is a loop around the city of Fort Worth. I-20 absorbed the southern section as part of its relocation to the south and I-30 being extended westward over the old alignment of I-20 through the center of town.

Business routes

All of the business loops within Texas are maintained by the

Texas Department of Transportation The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT ) is a Texas state government agency responsible for construction and maintenance of the state's immense Texas state highway system, state highway system and the support of the state's maritime trans ...

(TxDOT). I-20 has fifteen business loops in the state, all located in western Texas. Along I-20, TxDOT identifies each business route as Business Interstate 20 (Bus. I-20) followed by an alphabetic suffix. Along Texas Interstates, the alphabetic suffixes on business route names ascend eastward and northward. There are gaps in the alphabetic values to allow for future system expansion. The alphabetic naming suffixes are included as small letters on the bottom of route shields. State Highway Loop 254 (Loop 254) takes the place of a business route in Ranger, Texas, and follows the original route of US 80. I-20 business routes in Texas generally follow the path of the former US 80 through the central portions of towns now bypassed by the Interstate route.

Exit list

Notes

References

External links