State Highway Loop 12 marker

State Highway Loop 12

Route information
Maintained by TxDOT
Length47.742 mi[1] (76.833 km)
Existed1939[1]–present
Major junctions
Beltway around Dallas
Major intersections
Location
CountryUnited States
StateTexas
Highway system
SH 12 RM 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 (I-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 I-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 (U.S. Highway 75 (Texas), US 75) and the Dallas North Tollway and moves north of Bachman Lake and Dallas Love Field.

After crossing I-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 Highway 114 (SH 114) and SH 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 Trinity River (southern boundary).

Between I-35E and SH 183, Loop 12 has two tolled express lanes, one in each direction. These lanes connect the express lanes on SH 183 to those on I-35E and I-635.[3]

After intersecting I-30 for the second time, Loop 12 continues south, joining surface streets again east 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, I-35E for the second time, and I-45. At the intersection with US 175 and Murdock Road, Loop 12 turns north again as Buckner Boulevard all the way back to I-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.

History

Loop 12 was designated on September 26, 1939, from US 175 across US 80 to the Buckner Orphans Home, and across US 67 to SH 114 at White Rock Lake as a renumbering of SH 40 Bypass. On April 23, 1942, Loop 12 was extended from US 175 to US 75. On August 3, 1943, Loop 12 was extended westward and northward to SH 183. On October 6, 1943, Loop 12 was extended northward and eastward back to SH 114 at White Rock Lake. On January 7, 1971, Loop 12 was rerouted on Spur 348 and part of the old location of SH 114; the rest of the old location of SH 114 became new Spur 348, and the old route of Loop 12 became Spur 482.

Major intersections

The entire route is in Dallas County.

Locationmi[4]kmDestinationsNotes
Dallas0.00.0South Polk StreetInterchange
0.40.64 US 67 (Marvin D. Love Freeway)Interchange
3.04.8Ledbetter Drive / Cockrell Hill RoadInterchange; access from Cockrell Hill Road to Loop 12 is via Exchange Service Road
5.58.9
Spur 408 (Patriot Parkway) to I-20 / Illinois Avenue / Mountain Creek Parkway
Interchange; south (counterclockwise) end of freeway; northbound access to Spur 408 is indirect via Illinois Avenue
6.610.6Keeneland Parkway
7.411.9 SH 180 (Davis Street) / Jefferson BoulevardState Highway 180 known as Davis Street; SH 180 is former US 80
8.613.8 I-30 Dallas, Fort WorthExit 38 on I-30 (Tom Landry Freeway)
9.014.5Frontage RoadSouthbound (counterclockwise) exit and northbound (clockwise) exit
9.615.4Singleton Boulevard
Irving11.117.9Shady Grove Road
11.618.7 SH 356 / Irving Boulevard
12.720.4Union Bower Road
13.221.2Grauwyler Road
13.722.0 SH 183 Fort Worth, DallasAirport Freeway; no southbound (counterclockwise) access to SH 183 east
14.323.0 SH 114 DFW Airport, GrapevineJohn W. Carpenter Freeway
Dallas15.825.4
I-35E east (US 77)
Exits 436A–B on I-35E (Stemmons Freeway); north (clockwise) end of freeway

Spur 348 west (Northwest Highway)
Eastern terminus of Spur 348
16.226.1 I-35E (US 77)Exits 436A-B on I-35E (Stemmons Freeway)
16.7–
17.0
26.9–
27.4
Spur 482 (Storey Lane) IrvingInterchange
Loop 354 (Harry Hines Boulevard)Interchange
18.730.1Marsh Lane / Lemmon AvenueInterchange
21.334.3 Dallas North Tollway
University ParkDallas line21.835.1
SH 289 north (Preston Road)
Southern terminus of SH 289
Dallas23.738.1 US 75Exit 5A on US 75 (North Central Expressway)
24.839.9Skillman StreetInterchange
27.043.5
Spur 244 east (Northwest Highway) Garland
27.143.6East Lawther DriveInterchange; southbound (clockwise) exit and northbound (counterclockwise) entrance
27.544.3Peavy Road / Mockingbird LaneInterchange
29.247.0 SH 78 (Garland Road)
30.649.2Ferguson RoadInterchange
32.051.5

To I-30 (US 67) / US 80
Exit 53A on I-30 (R.L. Thornton Freeway); access via frontage roads
34.054.7Military ParkwayInterchange
34.355.2 SH 352 (Scyene Road)Interchange
37.961.0 US 175 (C.F. Hawn Freeway)Interchange
41.566.8Service RoadInterchange
41.867.3 SH 310Interchange with S.M. Wright Freeway
42.267.9 I-45 Houston, Dallas, McKinneyExit 279 on I-45 (Julius Schepps Freeway)
44.671.8
SH 342 south (Lancaster Road) Lancaster
Northern terminus of SH 342
46.675.0 I-35E (R.L. Thornton Freeway / US 77) Waxahachie, DallasExit 421 on I-35E
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.
  2. Transportation Planning and Programming Division (n.d.). "State Highway Spur No. 244". Highway Designation Files. Texas Department of Transportation.
  3. "State Loop 12: TEXpress Lanes fact sheet" (PDF). TEXpress Lanes. Texas Department of Transportation.
  4. Google (June 7, 2019). "Texas State Highway Loop 12" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved June 7, 2019.
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