Texas State Highway 121

State Highway 121
Route information
Length:	85.563 mi (137.700 km)
Existed:	by 1939 – present
Major junctions
Southwest end:	I-35W / US 287 / US 377 / Spur 347 in Fort Worth
	I-820 from Fort Worth to Hurst I-635 in Grapevine I-35E / US 77 in Lewisville Dallas North Tollway in Plano US 75 in McKinney US 75 in Melissa US 69 in Trenton US 82 in Bonham
Northeast end:	SH 78 in Bonham
Highway system
Highways in Texas Interstate US State Loops Spurs Rec FM Toll ← SH 120 SH 122 →

State Highway 121, locally known as 121 as well as other local names such as Chisholm Trail Parkway, 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. Highway 82.

Between Fort Worth and Euless, SH 121 is known as the Airport Freeway (east of Euless, this name applies to SH 183). Between Grapevine and Coppell, it is known as the International Parkway. East of Coppell, the highway acts as the frontage road of the Sam Rayburn Tollway, a tolled freeway that runs northeast to McKinney. From McKinney to Melissa, the state highway is multiplexed with US 75 and the North Central Expressway. Northeast of here, SH 121 is a smaller road referred to in some places as the Sam Rayburn Highway.

Route description

SH 121 Business west from IH-35E towards Grapevine

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 State Highway 121 gives access. At Grapevine it has interchanges with State Highway 114 and Interstate 635 before becoming a limited-access tollway that passes between Lewisville and Frisco.

It is very heavily traveled south and west of McKinney and has become an urban highway due to the rapid growth of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. Service roads extending southwest to northeast along the corridor from Lewisville to McKinney are free of charge, however the main lanes within the right-of-way are tolled as part of the Sam Rayburn Tollway operated by the North Texas Tollway Authority (NTTA). The highway's northeastern half is primarily two lanes wide and carries significantly less traffic.

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

Construction began in 2009 on the extension of 121 south from Fort Worth to Cleburne, Texas, as a toll road called Southwest Parkway in Tarrant County and Chisolm Trail in Johnson County. This section will be operated by the NTTA and the entire project, from IH 30 to U.S. 67 is expected to open to traffic in the fourth quarter of 2013.

In March, 2009, work was completed on a short stretch of TX 121 northeast of DFW Airport which upgraded 2 signalized at-grade intersections to a freeway, with overpasses at both intersections, clearing up a problem for rush-hour traffic.

Interchange between SH 121 and SH 121 Business Route

Sam Rayburn Tollway

Main article: Sam Rayburn Tollway

From McKinney to Coppell, State Highway 121 acts as a frontage road to Sam Rayburn Tollway, contrary to the popular misconception that the Sam Rayburn Tollway was the new SH 121.

Controversy

In early 2007, the Spanish firm Cintra agreed to a $2.8 billion, 50-year deal where they would lease the highway from TxDOT, finish building and maintain it, and collect the tolls.[1] However, critics of the deal questioned both its length—the contract allowed Cintra to collect tolls for 50 years—and the fact that the North Texas Tollway Authority (NTTA) was prevented from bidding on the contract. In addition, general opposition to the toll plan organized, pointing out that the segment through Denton County had already been paid for by taxpayer money.[2]

To answer some of these complaints, Texas legislators pressed the Texas Department of Transportation to allow the NTTA to bid.[3] The Authority announced their proposed bid in early May 2007, which would provide approximately $3.3 billion in road funding, but is based on traffic counts that differ from those used by Cintra.[4]

On June 28, 2007, the Texas Transportation Commission announced it would pursue the proposal from the North Texas Tollway Authority (NTTA). [5]

Route history

SH 121 was originally numbered in 1928 as a direct routing between Fort Worth and McKinney. By 1933, the route had been completed from Ft. Worth northeast through Grapevine to its intersection with U.S. Route 77 in far southern Denton County. In 1943, the ambitious plan to extend SH 121 northeast to Bonham was approved by TXDOT, a part of which absorbed Farm to Market Road 82 between Bonham and Randolph. But it wasn't until 1954 that the next section of this highway was completed between U.S. 77 at Lewisville and U.S. Route 75 near McKinney. The final section between McKinney and Trenton was not completed until 1964, including an extension around the western side of Bonham. In 1965, the section from downtown Fort Worth to Interstate 820 was transferred to newly completed freeway sections.

Exit/Junction list

County	Location	Destinations	Notes
Tarrant	Fort Worth	Spur 347 west (Belknap Street) – Downtown Fort Worth	Continuation beyond I-35W
		I-35W / US 287 / US 377 south – Denton, Waco
		US 377 north (Belknap Street)	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
		Sylvania Avenue
		Riverside Drive
		Beach Street
		Maxine Street	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
	Haltom City
		Haltom Road
		Carson Street
		Minnis Drive
	Richland Hills	Handley-Ederville Road
		I-820 south	South end of I-820 overlap.
	Hurst
		SH 10 east / SH 183 west – Richland Hills	South end of SH 183 overlap; signed as exit 24A southbound
		Pipeline Road, Glenview Drive	Signed as exit 23 eastbound
	North Richland Hills
		SH 26 / FM 1938 north – Tarrant County College Northeast Campus	Signed as exit 22A northbound
		I-820 west	North end of I-820 overlap
		Bedford-Euless Road	Signed as exit 22A northbound
	Hurst
		FM 3029 north (Precinct Line Road) / Hurstview Drive
		Norwood Drive, Brown Trail
	Bedford	Bedford Road, Forest Ridge Drive, Brown Trail
		Central Drive, Forest Ridge Drive
		SH 183 east – D/FW Airport South Entry, Irving	No southbound exit; north end of SH 183 overlap
		Murphy Drive, Euless Westpark Way	Northbound exit is via SH 183 east
		Harwood Road
		FM 157 south / Cheek-Sparger Road
	Euless
		Glade Road
	Grapevine
		Hall-Johnson Road
		Stone Myers Parkway	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
		SH 360 south – Arlington	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		William D. Tate Avenue	Southbound exit is via SH 114 west
		SH 114 west – Bridgeport	South end of SH 114 overlap; northbound exit is via Tate Avenue
		Spur 103 (Main Street)
		Bus. SH 114-L west (Texan Trail) to SH 26
		SH 114 east – Irving, Dallas	North end of SH 114 overlap
		D/FW Airport
		I-635 east
		Bass Pro Drive – Gaylord Texan
		FM 2499 north (Grapevine Mills Parkway) – Flower Mound	No northbound entrance
Dallas	Coppell, Grapevine	Sandy Lake Road / Grapevine Mills Parkway / Freeport Parkway / SH 26 south	SH 26 accessible from southbound 121 only
Denton	Coppell, Lewisville	Bus. SH 121-H north – Lewisville
		Denton Tap Road
		South end of Sam Rayburn Tollway
		MacArthur Boulevard
	Lewisville	I-35E (US 77) – Denton, Dallas	Northbound exit to I-35E north is via MacArthur Boulevard exit
	Carrollton
		Marchant Boulevard, Huffines Boulevard
		Hebron Parkway
		Carrollton Parkway
	Lewisville	FM 544
		Bus. SH 121-H south / FM 2281 – Lewisville
	The Colony
		Standridge Drive
		FM 423 (Main Street) / Josey Lane – Little Elm, Carrollton
		Plano Parkway/Paige Road
	Plano	Spring Creek Parkway
		Legacy Drive
Collin	Frisco (north side), Plano (south side)
		Dallas North Tollway – Dallas, Prosper	Interchange
		SH 289 (Preston Road)	Interchange
		Hillcrest Road/Rasor Boulevard
		Coit Road
		Independence Parkway
		FM 2478 (Custer Road)
	McKinney
		Alma Road
		Stacy Road
		Lake Forest Drive/Watters Road
		Hardin Boulevard
		North end of Sam Rayburn Tollway
		US 75 south (Central Expressway) – Dallas	South end of US 75 overlap
		Eldorado Parkway	Signed as exit 39
		Spur 359 (Louisiana Street) / FM 3038 (Virginia Parkway)	Signed as exit 40A
		White Avenue	Signed as exit 40B
		US 380 (University Drive)	Signed as exit 41
		Wilmeth Road	Signed as exit 42
		Weston Road	Signed as exit 43
		Telephone Road/Davis Road	Signed as exit 44
		US 75 north (Central Expressway) – Sherman	North end of US 75 overlap
	Melissa
		SH 5
		FM 545 (Sherman Street)
		FM 2933
		FM 455 (White Street) – Celina
	Westminster
		FM 2662 (Houston Street)
Fannin		SH 160 – Whitewright, Farmersville
	Trenton	FM 819
		US 69 – Bells, Greenville	Interchange
	Randolph	Bus. SH 121
		SH 11 – Tom Bean, Commerce	Interchange
		FM 1629
	Bonham	Spur 311
		SH 56 – Bells, Honey Grove
		US 82 – Sherman, Paris	Interchange
		FM 898
		SH 78 – Durant, Farmersville	Northern Terminus

External links

• www.Texas121.org - Official Site
• Denton & Collin County section of SH 121 - from dfwfreeways.info