Texas State Highway 121

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State Highway 121

Length:

85.56^[1] mi (137.69 km)

Formed:

by 1939

Southwest end:

I 35W at Fort Worth

Major
junctions:

I 820

I 635
I 35E
US 75
US 380
US 69
US 82

Northeast end:

SH 78

Highways in Texas
< SH 120		SH 122 >

State Highway 121, locally known as 121, is a diagonal state highway, angling from southwest to northeast through north central Texas. It runs from downtown Fort Worth, Texas at the junction of Interstate 35W to Bonham, Texas, just north of a junction with U.S. Route 82.

Sections between downtown Fort Worth and Grapevine, Texas are freeway, including a small segment near Hurst, Texas that coincides with Interstate 820. At Bedford, Texas it has an interchange with State Highway 183, the Irving freeway that leads toward Dallas; it has an interchange with State Highway 360, which leads toward Arlington, Texas, just to the west of the north entrance to the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, to which Texas 121 gives access. At Grapevine it has interchanges with State Highway 114 and Interstate 635 before the end of the freeway (in 2004), where it becomes a surface road (Business 121) and a limited-access tollway that passes between Lewisville and its eastern neighbor The Colony.

It meets Interstate 35E at Lewisville, Texas, State Highway 289 near Frisco, Texas, U.S. Route 75 and U.S. Route 380 in McKinney, Texas, U.S. Route 69 at Trenton, Texas, and State Highway 78 just north of Bonham.

To the south and west of McKinney it is very heavily traveled, having become an urban highway due to the rapid growth of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, and sections not yet of freeway quality are scheduled for upgrade or replacement as freeway. Discussions have been held as to whether the upgraded freeway should be a toll road instead (see below), which has sparked controversy among area residents.

Plans have been made to extend 121 south from Fort Worth to Cleburne, Texas, as a toll road called Southwest Parkway to be operated by the North Texas Tollway Authority (NTTA).

[edit] 121 Toll Road

State Highway 121 Toll or SH 121T is a toll facility that may be built to fund construction of the main lanes of State Highway 121 in Collin County, Texas. The North Texas Tollway Authority (NTTA), in conjunction with the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), has studied potential options for constructing SH 121 as a tollway between the Dallas North Tollway and US 75 (Central Expressway), a distance of approximately 12 miles. The involvement of the NTTA has not yet been determined as several private companies have bid to build and run the tollroad. By February 2006, the NTTA plans to submit a proposal for the Collin County facility

Currently, TxDOT has not allocated funding for the SH 121 main lanes between Preston Road (State Highway 289) and US 75, although construction of the Hillcrest Rd overpass has begun as of January 2007 and the Preston overpass is 70% complete. Preliminary schematics for a toll financed facility were completed in 2001, but project funding options and right-of-way acquisition at the proposed toll plaza areas are still not determined. The project is estimated at costing $214 million. Frontage road construction began in 2003 and was completed in 2006. A date for completion of main lane construction has not yet been determined (only a small portion around Custer Road, which was built along with the frontage roads, is currently in place).

If built as a toll road, it is planned to use only electronic toll collection with no tollbooths or toll collectors along both the route like Westpark Tollway in Houston. People will be able to use a transponder unit known as a TollTag attached to a vehicle's windshield, which communicates with overhead sensors to deduct tolls from the user's toll account. If a person does not have a TollTag, they can still drive on the tollway, because the overhead sensors will scan and record the licence plate number, locate the owner's address, and send a monthly bill showing their toll expenses plus a $1.00 invoice fee.

The major portion of Highway 121 in neighboring Denton County has already been built (the rest is currently under construction, as well as the portion in Collin County between the county line and Highway 289), and effective December 1 tolls are being collected using totally electronic collection.