US 75 (TX)

U.S. Highway 75 (US 75) is a part of the United States Numbered Highway System, U.S. Highway System that travels from Interstate 345 (I-345) in Dallas, Dallas, Texas northward to the Canada–United States border, Canadian border in Noyes, Minnesota. In the state of Texas it runs from I-345 in Dallas and heads north to the Oklahoma state line, a distance of about .

History

In the initial assignment of state highways in 1917, Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston were connected by a branch of Texas State Highway 2 (1917), State Highway 2 (SH 2, the Meridian Highway), which ran via Waco, Texas, Waco and Bryan, Texas, Bryan and continued on to Galveston, Texas, Galveston. The more direct route followed by US 75 was not initially part of the system between Richland, Texas, Richland (connected to Dallas by Texas State Highway 14 (1917), SH 14) and Huntsville, Texas, Huntsville (connected to Houston by Texas State Highway 19 (1917), SH 19). This Richland–Huntsville cutoff was added by 1919 as Texas State Highway 32, SH 32, and US 75 was assigned to the alignment, as well as Texas State Highway 6 (1917), SH 6 north of Dallas, in 1926. The branch of SH 2, which US 75 followed between Houston and Galveston, eventually became part of SH 6, and these numbers were dropped in the 1939 renumbering.

Prior to the coming of the Interstate Highway System in the late 1950s, the only improvements to US 75 in Texas beyond building a two-lane paved roadway were in the Houston and Dallas areas. However, the highways in and near these cities included some of the first freeways in the state: the Gulf Freeway (Houston, opened to traffic on October 1, 1948) and the Central Expressway (Dallas), Central Expressway. When Interstate 45, I-45 was built in the 1960s, its alignment bypassed many of the towns and built-up areas between Downtown Dallas and Houston. The bypassed routes retained the US 75 designation until the designation was truncated to Downtown Dallas in 1987. Many of the original alignments continue to exist under other designations.

In Dallas, the route followed what is now the Good Latimer Expressway (formerly Texas State Highway Spur 559, Spur 559) southeast, out of downtown, along U.S. Route 175, US 175 and south along Texas State Highway 310, SH 310.

Near Ferris, Texas, Ferris, Trumbull, Texas, Trumbull, Palmer, Texas, Palmer, Ennis, Texas, Ennis, and Corsicana, Texas, Corsicana Interstate 45 veers east to avoid the more populated areas. The old US 75 alignments through these towns, decommissioned in 1987, now carry the following designations:

*Interstate 45 Business (Ferris, Texas), I-45 Business-J (originally Texas State Highway Loop 560, Loop 560) through Ferris, Texas, Ferris
*Texas State Highway Loop 561, Loop 561 through Trumbull, Texas, Trumbull
*Interstate 45 Business (Palmer, Texas), I-45 Business-H through Palmer, Texas, Palmer (originally Texas State Highway Loop 562, Loop 562)
*Texas State Highway Spur 469, Spur 469, Interstate 45 Business (Ennis, Texas), I-45 Business-G (originally U.S. Route 287 in Texas, US 287 and Texas State Highway Spur 563, Spur 563) through Ennis, Texas, Ennis
*Interstate 45 Business (Corsicana, Texas), Interstate 45 Business-F (originally Texas State Highway Loop 564, Loop 564) through Corsicana, Texas, Corsicana

Through Streetman, Texas, Streetman, Fairfield, Texas, Fairfield, Buffalo, Texas, Buffalo, Centerville, Texas, Centerville, Madisonville, Texas, Madisonville, Huntsville, Texas, Huntsville, New Waverly, Texas, New Waverly, Willis, Texas, Willis, and Conroe, Texas, Conroe, US 75 followed what is now Texas State Highway 75, SH 75.

In Galveston, the alignment of Texas State Highway 87, State Highway 87 from 20th Street to the southern terminus I-45 was also part of US 75 until its 1987 truncation.

In other cases alignments were bypassed while US 75 remained in existence; they now carry the following designations:
*Texas State Highway 3, SH 3 through La Marque, Texas, La Marque, Dickinson, Texas, Dickinson, League City, Texas, League City, South Houston, Texas, South Houston and Houston, bypassed 1952
*Texas State Highway 5, SH 5 from north of Dallas via Plano, Texas, Plano, McKinney, Texas, McKinney, Anna, Texas, Anna and Van Alstyne, Texas, Van Alstyne to Howe, Texas, Howe, bypassed 1959-1967
*Texas State Highway 91, SH 91 from Sherman, Texas, Sherman to Denison, Texas, Denison, bypassed 1984

Route description

US 75 begins at Interstate 345, I-345, an unsigned auxiliary route of Interstate 45, I-45 and heads north, first interchanging Texas State Highway Spur 366, Spur 366 northeast of Dallas. The highway then interchanges with Texas State Highway Loop 12, SL 12 (Northwest Highway) before forming the High Five Interchange with Interstate 635 (Texas), I-635. Then, it interchanges with the President George Bush Turnpike as it continues north through Plano, Texas, Plano. It then interchanges with the Sam Rayburn Tollway, becoming concurrent with Texas State Highway 121, SH 121 and then heads through McKinney, Texas, McKinney and interchanging with U.S. Route 380, US 380. The stretch through McKinney is largely unchanged from its original design except for its intersection at the Sam Rayburn Tollway. to replace the original interchange. Plans to upgrade the facility through and north of McKinney are under way with the reconstruction of the US 380 bridge. US 75 then splits from SH 121 in Melissa, Texas, Melissa and continues north. In Sherman, Texas, Sherman, the route crosses over Texas State Highway 56, SH 56 and then U.S. Route 82 in Texas, US 82. North of Denison, Texas, Denison, it becomes concurrent with U.S. Route 69 in Texas, US 69 for the next before crossing over the Red River of the South, Red River and into Oklahoma.

The exit numbers for US 75 are not based on mile markers; instead, the exits were numbered consecutively (the only remaining stretch of road in Texas with such a system). As the bypass route was completed around the Sherman–Denison area, the numbering system was continued for the new exits. Upon completion of the widened Central Expressway through Dallas, the exit numbering was changed for the section south of I-635 to correspond with the new (and fewer number of) exits, based on mileage, but the numbering system north of I-635 was left unchanged, thus explaining the gap in the current numbering system.

Exit list

See also

*

References

External links

* - at dfwfreeways.info

{{DEFAULTSORT:U.S. Route 75 In Texas
Freeways in Texas
U.S. Highways in Texas, 75
U.S. Route 75, Texas
Transportation in Dallas County, Texas
Transportation in Collin County, Texas
Transportation in Grayson County, Texas