Texas State Highway 121

State Highway 121
Route information
Maintained by TxDOT
Length:	85.563 mi[1] (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 Richland Hills to North Richland Hills I-635 in Grapevine I-35E / US 77 in Lewisville Dallas North Tollway in Plano US 75 from McKinney to Melissa US 69 in Trenton US 82 in Bonham
Northeast end:	SH 78 in Bonham
Highway system
Highways in Texas Interstate US State Toll Loops Spurs FM/RM Park Rec ← SH 120 SH 122 →

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.

Between Fort Worth and Euless, SH 121 is known as Airport Freeway (east of Euless, this name applies to SH 183). From Grapevine and Coppell, it is known as 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 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

SH 121 Business west from IH-35E towards Grapevine

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.^[2]

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.^[3] 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.

Interchange between SH 121 and SH 121 Business Route

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. ^[4] 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.^[5]

To answer some of these complaints, Texas legislators pressed the Texas Department of Transportation to allow the NTTA to bid.^[6] 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.^[7]

On June 28, 2007, the Texas Transportation Commission announced it would pursue the proposal from the North Texas Tollway Authority (NTTA).^[8]

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.

Major intersections

County	Location	mi[9]	km	Destinations	Notes
Tarrant	Fort Worth	0.0	0.0	I-35W / US 287 / US 377 south – Waco, Denton Spur 347 west (Belknap Street) – Downtown Fort Worth	I-35W exit 52B, access to Fort Worth Intermodal Transportation Center
		0.8	1.3	Sylvania Avenue
		1.2	1.9	Riverside Drive
		2.1	3.4	Beach Street
		2.7	4.3	Maxine Street	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
	Haltom City	3.1	5.0	Haltom Road
		4.2	6.8	Carson Street
		4.9	7.9	Minnis Drive
	Richland Hills	6.4	10.3	Handley-Ederville Road	Access to Richland Hills Station
	Hurst	7.3	11.7	I-820 south	south end of I-820 overlap; SH 121 south follows exit 24B
				SH 10 east / SH 183 west – Richland Hills	south end of SH 183 overlap; I-820 exit 24A
		8.4	13.5	Pipeline Road / Glenview Drive	I-820 exit 23, access to North Hills Hospital
				SH 121 Express north / SH 183 Express east to FM 157	northbound exit and southbound entrance; I-820 exit 23A
		8.5	13.7	SH 26 / FM 1938 north (Davis Boulevard) / Bedford-Euless Road – Colleyville, TCC Northeast Campus	I-820 exit 22B
		8.9	14.3	I-820 west	north end of I-820 overlap; SH 121 north follows exit 22A
		10.1	16.3	FM 3029 north (Precinct Line Road) / Hurstview Drive
	Hurst–Bedford line	11.5	18.5	Norwood Drive / Brown Trail
	Bedford	12.5	20.1	Bedford Road / Forest Ridge Drive
		13.0	20.9	Central Drive / Forest Ridge Drive	Access to Texas Health HEB
		13.6	21.9	SH 183 east – DFW Airport South Entry, Irving	north end of SH 183 overlap; no direct southbound exit (signed at Murphy Drive)
		14.0	22.5	Westpark Way / Murphy Drive
		15.0	24.1	Harwood Road
				SH 121 Express south / SH 183 Express west to I-820	southbound exit and northbound entrance
	Bedford–Euless line	16.7	26.9	FM 157 south / Cheek-Sparger Road
	Euless–Grapevine line	17.2	27.7	Glade Road
	Grapevine	18.1	29.1	Hall-Johnson Road
		18.7	30.1	To SH 360 / Stone Myers Parkway	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
		19.3	31.1	SH 360 south – Arlington	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		20.8	33.5	SH 114 west (SH 26 south) to FM 1709 / William D. Tate Avenue – Bridgeport	south end of SH 114 overlap
		21.9	35.2	SH 26 north / Bus. SH 114 west (Texan Trail) / Main Street – Grapevine Historic District	no northbound entrance
		22.4	36.0	SH 114 east – Dallas	North end of SH 114 overlap
		22.9	36.9	DFW Airport (International Parkway)
		24.3	39.1	I-635 east	I-635 exit 36
		24.7	39.8	Bass Pro Drive / Bethel Road / Grapevine Mills Trail
		25.3	40.7	FM 2499 north (Grapevine Mills Parkway) – Flower Mound	northbound exit and southbound entrance
Dallas	Coppell–Grapevine line	26.2	42.2	Grapevine Mills Boulevard / Sandy Lake Road / Freeport Parkway
Denton	Lewisville	27.6	44.4	Bus. SH 121 north – Lewisville
Dallas	Coppell–Lewisville line	28.8	46.3	Sam Rayburn Tollway north / Denton Tap Road – McKinney	north end of freeway
Denton	Lewisville	30.0	48.3	Sam Rayburn Tollway / MacArthur Boulevard
		31.1	50.1	Sam Rayburn Tollway south / I-35E (US 77) – Denton, Dallas, D/FW Airport, Fort Worth	south end of Sam Rayburn Tollway overlap; south end of freeway; I-35E exits 447A-447B-448A
	Carrollton	32.3	52.0	Marchant Boulevard / Huffines Boulevard
		33.2	53.4	Sam Rayburn Tollway north / Hebron Parkway	north end of Sam Rayburn Tollway overlap; north end of freeway
		34.3	55.2	Sam Rayburn Tollway / Carrollton Parkway
	Lewisville	35.1	56.5	Sam Rayburn Tollway south / FM 544
		35.7	57.5	Sam Rayburn Tollway / Bus. SH 121 south / FM 2281 south – Lewisville
		36.6	58.9	Sam Rayburn Tollway / Standridge Drive / Castle Hills Drive
		36.9	59.4	Sam Rayburn Tollway / FM 423 north (Main Street) / Josey Lane – Little Elm
	The Colony	38.3	61.6	Sam Rayburn Tollway / Paige Road / Plano Parkway
				Sam Rayburn Tollway south	southbound exit and northbound entrance
		39.9	64.2	Sam Rayburn Tollway / Spring Creek Parkway
Collin	Plano–Frisco line	40.7	65.5	Sam Rayburn Tollway / Legacy Drive
		41.7	67.1	To Dallas North Tollway / Dallas Parkway
				Sam Rayburn Tollway / Parkwood Boulevard
		42.8	68.9	Sam Rayburn Tollway north / Dallas North Tollway / SH 289 (Preston Road)
				Sam Rayburn Tollway / Ohio Drive	interchange
		43.9	70.7	Sam Rayburn Tollway north / Hillcrest Road / Rasor Boulevard
		45.2	72.7	Sam Rayburn Tollway / Coit Road
		46.3	74.5	Sam Rayburn Tollway / Independence Parkway
	Plano–Frisco– Allen–McKinney quadripoint	47.2	76.0	Sam Rayburn Tollway south / FM 2478 north (Custer Road)
	Allen–McKinney line	48.1	77.4	Sam Rayburn Tollway / Exchange Parkway
		49.0	78.9	Sam Rayburn Tollway north / Alma Drive
		50.0	80.5	Sam Rayburn Tollway / Stacy Road
		50.8	81.8	Sam Rayburn Tollway / Watters Road / Lake Forest Drive
		51.8	83.4	Sam Rayburn Tollway / Chelsea Boulevard / Hardin Boulevard
		52.9	85.1	US 75 south to SH 5 (via Spur 399 east) – Dallas	south end of US 75 overlap; SH 121 south follows exit 39
	see US 75
	Melissa	61.2	98.5	US 75 north – Sherman	north end of US 75 overlap; SH 121 north follows exit 45
				SH 5 south	south end of SH 5 overlap
		62.2	100.1	SH 5 north – Melissa, Anna	Interchange; north end of SH 5 overlap
		63.7	102.5	FM 545 (East Melissa Road) – Melissa, Blue Ridge
		64.9	104.4	FM 2933 south – New Hope
	Anna			Outer Loop Road
				FM 455 west – Anna	south end of FM 455 overlap
				FM 455 east to FM 2862	north end of FM 455 overlap
	​	71.6	115.2	FM 2862 – Westminster
	Desert	75.4	121.3	SH 160 – Whitewright, Blue Ridge
Fannin	Trenton			FM 814 west	south end of FM 814 overlap
				FM 814 east – Trenton	north end of FM 814 overlap
		80.7	129.9	US 69 / Bus. US 69 – Whitewright, Leonard	Interchange
	​	86.0	138.4	Bus. SH 121 north
	​	86.5	139.2	SH 11 – Sherman, Commerce	Interchange
	​	87.7	141.1	Bus. SH 121 south – Randolph
	​	90.5	145.6	FM 1629 east – Edhube
	​	93.0	149.7	Spur 311 north to SH 56 west – Sherman, Sam Rayburn House
	Bonham	93.7	150.8	SH 56 west – Sherman	South end of SH 56 overlap
		94.2	151.6	SH 56 east – Bonham, Sam Rayburn Library	North end of SH 56 overlap
		96.1	154.7	US 82 – Sherman, Paris	US 82 exit 670
		96.9	155.9	FM 898 west – Ector
	​	98.3	158.2	SH 78 – Durant, Bonham
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       ETC       Incomplete access

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Texas State Highway 121.

• Denton & Collin County section of SH 121 - from dfwfreeways.info