The is a 30.5- running east-west through the northern suburbs of
Dallas, Texas ,
United States . At its west end near
Belt Line Road in
Irving , '''State Highway 161''' ('''SH 161''') continues southwest as a freeway to
State Highway 183 near
Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport . A further extension of SH 161 south to
Interstate Highway 20 in
Grand Prairie is under construction. The discontinuous free
Frontage Road s along the Turnpike from
Interstate Highway 35E in
Carrollton east to its end at
State Highway 78 in
Garland are assigned the '''State Highway 190''' ('''SH 190''') designation. "190 TEXAS" signage appears only along the Garland, Richardson, and Plano sections of the frontage road with the undersign "frontage road only." At intersections with city streets, only the Bush Turnpike signs are displayed, not the "190 TEXAS" signage. Prior to the construction of the main lanes as a tollway, SH 190 was used as the name of the planned main lanes too. Similarly, the part west of IH 35E was planned as part of SH 161. Bush Turnpike is signed as an east-west road east of I-35E and as a north-south road west (i.e., south) of I-35E, as Bush Turnpike makes a nearly 90-degree curve immediately west of its I-35E interchange.
The turnpike is named for
George Herbert Walker Bush , the 41st
President Of The United States , and is operated by the
North Texas Tollway Authority (NTTA). All sections are built of 12 inches of
Reinforced Concrete atop a base of 6 to 8 inches of
Asphalt .
The turnpike passes through three Texas counties (
Dallas ,
Collin and
Denton ) and six Dallas suburbs (
Garland ,
Richardson ,
Plano ,
Carrollton ,
Farmers Branch and
Irving ).
The barrier tolled plazas of the President George Bush Turnpike have high speed express lanes allowing drivers to pay a toll with an electronic transponder called a
TollTag thus earning the road the nickname "North Texas Autobahn". All toll plazas on the President George Bush Turnpike are equipped for TollTags. The toll charged at each of 5 barrier tolls is 60 cents (with a TollTag) or 75 cents (without a TollTag) for a two-axle vehicle.
The corridor of SH 161 and the Turnpike was first proposed as an outer loop within system as
Loop 9 . The loop would begin at
Interstate Highway 20 just east of the
Tarrant County line and head north (along a corridor still planned as an extension of SH 161). From
State Highway 183 it would run roughly along present SH 161, turning north on
Belt Line Road and east just south of the
Denton County line, crossing
Interstate Highway 35E near the present junction. Rather than cross into Denton and
Tarrant Counties, the loop would stay in Dallas County, running roughly where Campbell Road is now. It would rejoin the present Turnpike alignment and head southeast to
Interstate Highway 30 west of
Lake Ray Hubbard . The south part of the loop would continue in a roughly circular route to end at the junction of
Interstate Highway 20 and
Spur 408 , several miles east of the beginning of the loop. The short , designated in 1970, would run from Loop 9 at
Belt Line Road northeast along the present Turnpike alignment to
Interstate Highway 635 .
TexasFreeway - Dallas/Fort Worth Freeway Planning Map, 1971
Some of the opposition to the loop came from the city of
Richardson , which was already divided by the
Central Expressway . In conjunction with
Plano , the city acquired empty
Right-of-way about two miles (3 km) to the north, where the Turnpike now runs, and set the centerline of the right-of-way to the border between Richardson and Plano.
Loop 9 was cancelled in 1977, and the western and northern section was split between two new designations - State Highway 161 from
Interstate Highway 20 to
State Highway 114 (at
Belt Line Road ), and State Highway 190 from
Interstate 35E to
State Highway 78 . (The piece between SH 114 and IH 35E was removed from the state highway system.) Spur 484 was absorbed into SH 161 in 1979, making its northern terminus
Interstate Highway 635 (at Valley View Lane). The connection between IH 635 and IH 35E was added to SH 161 in 1988.
Construction on
Service Road s began in late
1988 in north Garland. In
1995 following a revision in federal laws, authorities agreed to shift to a toll financing scheme, providing an infusion of cash and accelerating construction. The SH 190 designation was removed from the plans for the not-yet-constructed main lanes in 1996,, and in 1998 SH 161 was removed from the piece between
Belt Line Road and IH 635 (Segment V).
- (North Dallas). Extends from Campbell Road to Midway Road, and includes the Dallas North Tollway and U.S. Highway 75 ( Central Expressway ) interchanges. Opened in December 1998 .
- (Garland/Richardson). Extends from Campbell Road to State Highway 78 . It was opened in 2000 .
- (Carrollton). Extends from Midway Road in north Dallas to Interstate Highway 35E . It was opened July 2001 .
- ("GBT Superconnector"). Connects IH 35E to the IH 635 airport extension. It covers 5.2 miles and was built at the cost of $339 million. Much of the expense is because the segment is built within the Trinity River wetland and comprises many miles of bridges. Construction began in January 2003 and was completed in October 2005 .
- (Irving). A 3.9-mile segment connecting the IH 635 airport extension to the SH 161 freeway near Belt Line Road . It opened in December 2001 . Unstable clay soil was a significant problem in this segment, requiring contractors to use concentrated liquid stabilizers and geosynthetic reinforcement.
The eastern expansion phase of the President George Bush Turnpike will extend the road 9.9 miles southeast to and is estimating construction to begin in
2007 , with completion in
2010 . The project will include a 1-mile (1.5 km) bridge spanning
Lake Ray Hubbard . Costs estimates of this segment have ranged between $398 to $442 million.
The NTTA is also planning to extend the western terminus south to
Interstate Highway 20 through the city of
Grand Prairie , forming a half loop around the city of Dallas. This phase is still in the early stages and the NTTA has not released a completion date; however, construction on PGBT south of
State Highway 183 is in progress.
Long term plans are for the turnpike to form a full outer
Loop around Dallas, dubbed
Loop 9 (despite the cancellation of that number by
TxDOT in 1977).
