Texas State Highway Loop 12

State Highway Loop 12 marker

State Highway Loop 12
Route information
Length: 47.74 mi[1] (76.83 km)
Existed: 1939[1] – present
Major junctions
CCW end: I-30
  US 75
Dallas North Tollway
I-35E
SH 114
SH 183
US 67
SH 342
I-45
US 175
CW end: I-30
Highway system
SH 12RM 12

Loop 12 is a state highway that runs mostly within the city limits of Dallas, Texas. The western segment of the loop is named after General Walton Walker who served and died in South Korea. During the 1950s and 1960s, Loop 12 was the outer beltway in the Dallas area, having since been supplanted by Interstate 635, which is itself being supplanted by the President George Bush Turnpike (SH 190). Loop 12 is, however, the only state highway in Dallas that forms a complete loop (Belt Line Road is also a complete loop but is not a state road except for a stretch as part of Farm to Market Road 1382).

Route description

Starting in the east at Interstate 30, Loop 12 goes north as Buckner Boulevard, following surface streets past White Rock Lake. Just north of White Rock Lake, it intersects Spur 244[2] and becomes Northwest Highway to the west; because there is an eastern and a western segment to this part of the road, at certain points the road signs read "East Northwest Highway." It continues west along surface streets over Central Expressway (US 75) and the Dallas North Tollway and moves north of Bachman Lake and Dallas Love Field.

After crossing Interstate 35E, Loop 12 moves south as a freeway, locally known as Walton Walker Boulevard, passing where Texas Stadium once sat at the interchanges with State Highways 114 and 183. The segment between I-35E (Stemmons Freeway) and Spur 408 is the only portion of Loop 12 that is freeway. It is also the only portion that leaves the Dallas city limits, as it runs through the eastern portion of Irving between where the road crosses the Elm Fork of the Trinity River (northern boundary, just north of the former site of Texas Stadium) and where it crosses the West Fork of the Trinity River (southern boundary).

After intersecting Interstate 30 for the second time, Loop 12 continues south, joining surface streets again west of Mountain Creek Lake at Mountain Creek Parkway and Patriot Parkway (or Spur 408, which provides a southwesterly freeway link to I-20). It continues to the southeast, turning east along Ledbetter Drive, just north of Dallas Executive Airport (formerly Red Bird Airport). It continues east, crossing US 67, Interstate 35E for the second time and Interstate 45. At the intersection with US 175 and Murdock Road, Loop 12 turns north again as Buckner Boulevard all the way back to Interstate 30. The portion between Bonnie View Rd. and US 175 is also known as Great Trinity Forest Way as it passes across an undeveloped portion of the Trinity River and the Trinity River Audubon Center.

Major intersections

The entire route is in Dallas County.

LocationmikmDestinationsNotes
DallasSouth Polk Streetinterchange
US 67 (Marvin D. Love Freeway)interchange
Ledbetter Drive / Cockrell Hill Roadinterchange; access from Cockrell Hill to northbound Loop 12 is indirect via Exchange Service Road
Spur 408 (Patriot Parkway) to I-20 / Illinois Avenue / Mountain Creek Parkwayinterchange; south (counterclockwise) end of freeway; northbound access to Spur 408 is indirect via Illinois Avenue
Keeneland Parkway
SH 180 (Davis Street) / Jefferson BoulevardFormer US 80
Frontage Roadsouthbound (counterclockwise) exit only
I-30 (Tom Landry Freeway) Dallas, Fort WorthI-30 exit 38
Singleton Boulevard
IrvingShady Grove Road
SH 356 / Irving Boulevard
Union Bower Road
Grauwyler Road
SH 183 (Airport Freeway) Fort Worth, Dallas, DFW Airportno access from Loop 12 south (counterclockwise) to SH 183 east
SH 114 (John W. Carpenter Freeway) / Texas Plaza DFW Airport, Grapevine
Dallas Spur 348 west (Northwest Highway)interchange; north (clockwise) end of freeway
I-35E (Stemmons Freeway / US 77) Denton, DallasI-35E exits 436A-B
Spur 482 (Storey Lane) Irvinginterchange
Loop 354 (Harry Hines Boulevard)interchange
Marsh Lane / Lemmon Avenueinterchange
Dallas North Tollway
University ParkDallas line SH 289 north (Preston Road)
Dallas US 75 (N. Central Expressway)US 75 exit 5A
Skillman Streetinterchange
Spur 244 east (Northwest Highway) Garland
East Lawther Driveinterchange; no direct northbound (counterclockwise) exit
Peavy Road / Mockingbird Laneinterchange
SH 78 (Garland Road)
Ferguson Roadinterchange
I-30 (R.L. Thornton Freeway / US 67) / US 80I-30 exit 53A
Military Parkwayinterchange
SH 352 (Scyene Road)interchange
US 175 (C.F. Hawn Freeway)interchange
Service Roadinterchange
SH 310 (S.M. Wright Freeway)interchange
I-45 (Julius Schepps Freeway) Houston, Dallas, McKinneyI-45 exit 279
SH 342 south (Lancaster Road) Lancaster
I-35E (R.L. Thornton Freeway / US 77) Waxahachie, DallasI-35E exit 421
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Transportation Planning and Programming Division (n.d.). "State Highway Loop No. 12". Highway Designation Files. Texas Department of Transportation. Retrieved June 18, 2010.

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