Hi! I'm heading back to Dallas this week on a business trip. I've checked my maps from DFW to SMU and have driving directions. I'll be traveling at 2:30 pm on a weekday so traffic might not be too bad?

I also went to some local websites and saw road construction but it doesn't mean anything to me since I don't know the roads. Other than cross referencing maps.

Does anyone know of any traffic tie ups I should be aware of?
I'll be on a tight schedule and last time I was in Dallas I got lost constantly.

Y'all have two names for every street and exit I discovered and I never got directions matching the signs.

I dread driving in Dallas.

abst,

I am going to give you the easiest way to get to SMU from DFW. Now this may not be the fastest and people are going to post and say don't listen to me, but it is the EASIEST with the least amount of turns and streets to get confussed on.

Exit DFW from the North Exit and take I-635 East (this will sometimes be referred to as LBJ Freeway). Now all the other people that think they know what is best and will tell you to avoid LBJ, traffic is so bad, blah, blah, blah. Don't listen to them, I am on LBJ during the weekdays around the same time you will be traveling and traffic is no worse there than any other place.

Stay on LBJ (I-635) East, exit Hillcrest and head south (make a right after you exit).

Stay on Hillcrest until you run into SMU, it will be on your left hand side.

See very easy! Everyone else will log on and only serve to confuse you telling you to avoid LBJ, but they really don't know what is best for someone from out of town. Only their own self interests, which is typical of most Dallasites.

You will stay

thanks for the double names....I can't believe how many streets and exits in Dallas have two names....it took me 2 days to figure out what Access road meant. Between the Texas accent and looking for a road called Access.....

This sounds simple enough, thanks.

The car rental gave me different directions but I took yours instead and found it very simple and direct. I went 75 - 635 on the way back to the airport. Thanks

Dallas has very little traffic and any traffic I found was going 70 mph. Their rush hour is like 11 pm in Miami.

I am glad I could be of some assistance. And yes 75 (aka Central Expressway) 635 (aka LBJ) is much quicker and really pretty simple to get to SMU from DFW. The only problem with that route is the major construction project they have going on and from one day to the next you never know which lanes would be closed, open, rerouted, etc.

I understand you disdain for the double speak that is DFW roads. When I moved here a few years ago from Boston I thought I would have no problem getting around (after all Boston is a complete mess). For the most part traffic in DFW is not a problem but people giving directions are! I got lost 9 times out of 10 because I had one road name and some local yocal had given me another. Just feel fortunate your adventures did not take you down I-35 (aka Stemmons Freeway, aka RL Thorton Freeway) that can get VERY confussing!

Hey Don't,
You forgot to tell him that he could take 635 East aka LBJ to Southbound I-35 East. If he goes to far and finds himeself on Eastbound 635 aka LBJ South, he's gone too far. He needs to turn around and go West 635 aka LBJ NORTH and go to 75 aka Central Expressway North to Mockingbird.
I live in Sachse so I usually head up 190 aka George Bush Freeway aka Northwest Drive aka Rowlett Rd and turn on to Broadway aka Beltline aka Bryan aka Loop 12 to I80 West aka I30 aka RL Thornton and cross over to 75 by taking Peak aka Haskell aka Lemmon.
Ha ha...
I have lived here my entire life and never really thought of it all until now. No matter what anyone says, Dallas traffic is a piece of cake. I work in Southlake, 53 miles from my house. I take 190, 75, 635 and 114 everyday and make it to work within an hour.
Oh... but I am one of those huge Ford trucks going 80 mph!!!

what helped me was finally understanding what Dallas folks call "access" or "service" roads. I still don't get N. Central and 75. It seems like N Central is the "access" road and 75 the highway but everyone kept saying get on N. Central south...or north...I think I hit just about every major road. From Lincoln Park I went to Galleria, SMU, Fort Worth, Plano and the airport. I think I was getting to know the routes after 4 days except for those last minute exits. What also took a while to get used to is that when the highway splits off to others they don't have signs to let you know how to continue on the road you're on. It should be obvious but these splits don't look like exits. 4 lanes go off into 2 to the left, 2 to the right and there's still 2 left in between to continue...needless to say I got off a few exits and turned around. I ended up at the Cotton Bowl cause I didn't notice that Sherman 75 was the 75 exit. Got off at the next exit which ended up being the Cotton Bowl. Glad I did - so I can see where all the action was.

Yes, abst, as you've discovered there are two names for many of the major highways in Dallas. People use these names interchangeably.

To review:
__ Central Expressway or North Central or "75"
__ LBJ Freeway or "635"
__ Stemmons Freeway or "35" (however it's only referred to as Stemmons as it passed thru Dallas --- once you start heading south out of Dallas towards Duncanville and then further, Waco, it's not called Stemmons any longer)
___ "Tollway" or " North Dallas Tollway" --- it doesn't have a number and you'd best have change handy as the tollbooths aren't always manned.

Loop 12/Northwest Hwy.

And don't forget 35E runs north and south.