Since last winter went so swimmingly, let's try it again! TFS has very graciously opened her home in the west San Fernando Valley to me again. This time her daughter AS (and dog and cat) are there too. Two women + two dogs + two cats = not my usual solitary winter again. Huzzah! Place name links like Los Angeles, CA go to Wikipedia. Place name links like Los Angeles use a local tourism or government website.
| 2014.04.11 |
Driving Dallas |
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Coming from Los Angeles, CA you'd think I'd be used to driving on freeways. Well, Dallas, TX freeways seem to be another matter altogether. Dallas and Fort Worth, TX (and Arlington, TX and Grand Prairie, TX between them) are the center of a set of north-south and east-west roadways, all arranged to bypass the area in various ways and at various depths. Both Dallas and Fort Worth have dual ring-roads and many connector roads trying to link them all together. This results in a very visitor-unfriendly collection of ways to traverse the region.
One of the most
common Dallas
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Add to this mess ever-present Road Work Ahead signs, closed lanes, and detours and the situation is more complicated. And most roads that aren't under construction, especially those near the center of the two main cities, are in dire need of repair, in a state that resembles the annual post-winter conditions that those living in wintery climates suffer annually. Whole stretches of many roadways, even freeways, seem to be composed of aging concrete patches and asphalt overlays in a constantly-crumbling state.
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Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex Satellite | |
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The DFW Metroplex (DFW) encompasses a dozen counties containing several dozen municipalities that have grown together over time into a region of over 6.5 million inhabitants, the largest land-locked metropolitan area in the US. |
The major north-south route is the I-35 / 45 , the former split into I-35W for Fort Worth, and the I-35E for Dallas, and joining south of the Metroplex to continue on to Austin, TX and San Antonio, TX . East of Dallas, the I-35E connects to the I-45 (via I-30) to Houston, TX . The major east-west routes are the I-20 which passes south of DFW eastward, and the I-30 which splits off the I-20 to pass through Dallas and head northeast.
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Dallas-Fort Worth | |
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The Dallas-Fort Worth corridor is a mix of population centers of varying densities separated by tracts of yet-undeveloped land. The need to move many people over legacy and new roadways, and interstate trucking traffic, over largely-empty spaces necessitates the number of individual roadways shown in this map. |
Both Fort Worth and Dallas have multiple traffic loops surrounding their core, serving different populations at varying distances from the core. The loops around each city are connected to the loops in the other city, making for multiple ways to traverse the space between them, and requiring interchange systems to route traffic among them.
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Downtown Dallas | |
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Southwest Downtown Dallas | |
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Southwest Downtown Dallas Satellite | |
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The red "A" marker shows the location of our hotel just south of southwest downtown Dallas. From this vantage point I look out on one of the most complicated areas of the inner Dallas loop where the I-35E and I-30 meet, with extra complications introduced by crossings over the Trinity River . |
Notice the number of roadway splits, where traffic along a road in one direction is physically split from traffic in the other direction. Note the collision of at least three different street-grid orientations. Look closer and see that there is a preponderance of one-way streets in the downtown core and around it. These three factors, combined with roads that are very poorly maintained, if at all, and roads that are under some form of major construction, make for some very trying driving experiences. I have taken my camera with me numerous times to document some of the wild and whacky roadway conditions, but have been simply too busy navigating them, or fearing for my safety, to take many pictures. Most of the pictures I have taken have been collected on Sunday outings, when traffic is much lighter.
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Single-image view of the I-35E/I-30 spaghetti system from the roof of our hotel.
Multi-image view | |
Now for some roadways shots, some of the few I've taken because of fear of traffic during the week, or poor weather on the weekend. Or forgetting my camera. :(
These are from a trip to Fort Worth, on the I-30. |
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| The I-35E/I-20 interchange south of Dallas, heading south. |
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| We visited the production TFS is working on, shooting on location at Trinity Groves, a former industrial/warehouse area being redeveloped, sparsely right now, with trendy eateries and brew pubs. |
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| We crossed the Trinity River from downtown over the |
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| Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge . |
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on the | |
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way back | |
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Beautiful bridge, interesting design, but located between two semi-depressed areas of largely-vacant riverside. Not helped by the gloomy overcast day. I'll try to get over it again on a sunny day. |
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<--- Looking north at some of the older non-freeway bridges crossing the Trinity River, and south at a replacement for the I-35E crossing. ---> |
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US-67 / I-20 Interchange |
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| Heading back downtown on the I-35E. |
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I'll be adding more pics as we get around more, hopefully in sunnier conditions. |
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