Existed: by 1939 – present Length 137.7 km | Northeast end: SH 78 in Bonham | |
Southwest end: I-35W / US 287 / US 377 / Spur 347 in Fort Worth | ||
State Highway 121 is a 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.
Contents
Map of TX-121, Texas, USA
Between Fort Worth and Euless, SH 121 is known as Airport Freeway (east of Euless, this name applies to SH 183). 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 concurrent with US 75 and the North Central Expressway. Northeast of Melissa, SH 121 is a smaller roadway referred to in some places as the Sam Rayburn Highway.
Route description
Sections between downtown Fort Worth and Grapevine are freeway, including a small segment near Hurst that coincides with Interstate 820. At Bedford, Texas it has an interchange with SH 183, the Irving freeway that leads toward Dallas; it has an interchange with SH 360, which leads toward Arlington, 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 SH 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, SH 289 near Frisco, US 75 and US 380 in McKinney, US 69 at Trenton, and SH 78 just north of Bonham.
Construction began in 2009 on the extension of 121 south from Fort Worth to Cleburne, as a toll road called Southwest Parkway in Tarrant County and Chisholm Trail Parkway 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 the eventual southbound lanes on a short stretch of 121 northeast of DFW Airport, which currently shares southbound and northbound traffic. This work upgraded two signalized at-grade intersections to a freeway, with overpasses at both intersections, improving traffic in that area. The northbound freeway lanes are currently under construction, which also include new, separate exits and entrances for Freeport Parkway and Grapevine Mills Boulevard/Sandy Lake Road.
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. 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.
To answer some of these complaints, Texas legislators pressed the Texas Department of Transportation to allow the NTTA to bid. 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.
On June 28, 2007, the Texas Transportation Commission announced it would pursue the proposal from the North Texas Tollway Authority (NTTA).
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.