traffic on highway (75 & george bush toll road)
Posted by Prior-Protection9237@reddit | Dallas | View on Reddit | 18 comments
okay honestly this is a little embarrassing but i don’t really know where to ask
so i have my first internship in a corporate office in westlake
i live near oak point park in east plano
to get there i’d have to use 75 & George bush toll road (50mins - one hour. if i do the same route without the highway it would be 1 hour 20 mins (using frontage roads etc)
i’ve always been afraid of highways after an accident in the family and because i live in NY for college and only come back for summer and now for this internship i never really needed to worry about driving on the highway but now i do
the workday starts at 8:30am and ends at 5pm which i know are both rush hour. it’s a 10 week internship and it’s 5 weeks in person and 5 weeks remote so total of 25 days of doing this. part of me feels like the only way i’ll get myself out of my comfort zone is when im forced to do this anyways and this is my chance but im afraid of rash drivers especially because i will be driving during rush hour
people who drive this route / this highway during those times do you think it’s worth practicing this week (my brother has offered to help) & use the highway/tolls instead of the extra 20 minutes or does the traffic on the highway usually build up anyway.
mvarnado@reddit
My advice is to find any way to avoid the toll roads. Not only is it literal highway robbery now, usually you're paying a premium to sit in even worse traffic. Use the parallel normal roads, leave a little earlier, and deal with the lights. It's a small tradeoff for a high monetary savings and your sanity.
bloomiebility@reddit
I've done that drive from Plano Senior High to Westlake on a Saturday morning usually surface streets (not highway). It took about 80 minutes. From near Oak Point, it will be well over two hours, nevermind what Google Maps says.
The others in this thread are correct: You absolutely MUST practice this drive during rush hour before your internship starts. Start by driving it on a weekend morning, then midday of a weekday, then during rush hour. It will be scary, and you can have a friend (NOT A PARENT, in my experience, parents will make you more anxious) ride passenger with you.
Getting familiar with the route will help ease your anxieties. You are going to be great! I hope you learn a lot from your internship!!
CricketJaxson@reddit
Plan for a 1 hour 30 mins up to 2 hours during rush hour. Rush hour is the absolutely worst time to get on any highway around Dallas. You will be sitting in traffic during those times
fugu_chick@reddit
Btw new rush hour time starts at 3
SimpleVegetable5715@reddit
3pm. I saw a doctor at Baylor University Medical Center for a while, and my tests started at 7am. I left at 5am, most people in the ‘burbs leave at 6am. So I left before the traffic. I figured this out when I worked downtown, leave home early enough to miss the traffic. I’d get to the hospital, and they have some 24 hour amenities, I’d get my coffee there and chill out. Definitely better than being in Dallas traffic. Worth waking up earlier. I still see some specialists downtown. I pack a lunchbox with a meal and eat my dinner at the hospital scrolling my phone while everyone else is bumper to bumper on the highway. I still prefer that.
Bigfartz69420@reddit
Hope you're feeling better these days! Baylorland was my life for a while.
Sibbour@reddit
Is this non-highway route basically Hebron road all the way down? Google is giving me a wild time range on that route for Tuesday morning, anywhere from 55 min to 1 hr 50 mins. I'm not sure I would trust to lower amount.
My recommendation for you is to practice the trip both ways - slow road there, then highway back. And avoid 635, it will be far less forgiving for a beginner driver for you than PGBT.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Dallas/comments/lvaw8y/tell_me_im_wrong/
tx4468@reddit
The non highway route is take parker (544) or park (hebron) to lewisville then Main Street (1171) to 377 then 377 to Roanoke/Westlake.
The fastest I've done this with no traffic is about an hour and longest is over 2.5 hours.
These-Slip1319@reddit
You can also leave really early and have a coffee near your office, I used to do that, and if there is a traffic issue, you have a little buffer.
PoshNoshThenMosh@reddit
Practice and honestly, building resiliency. Life throws mostly curve balls and difficulty. Traffic is probably the easiest to navigate, if time consuming
SimpleVegetable5715@reddit
So I live further north than you, but I had to work downtown. Driving with the rush would make me miserable. What I did was leave even earlier, yeah, I know young people like to sleep in, but I actually enjoyed my mornings when I was doing this. I left my house at 5am, yeah that early, because a lot of people leave home at 6am. I was downtown two hours early. I’d take my time, listen to my iPod (this was a while ago), get a coffee once I was there. Took my mornings very slow. Watched the sunrise over the city. Oh yeah, I had to be very disciplined and go to bed early, but it definitely paid off to not be grinding with the traffic.
I also avoid tollways because I think they’re scams, but that’s personal.
prereqs@reddit
i have driven over 250000 miles in dfw and my tip is learn how to merge properly and how to manage the brakes, If traffic is doing 65 , dont merge at 50 then speed up. also in rush hour traffic give enough space in front so that no one rear ends you. dont drive in the right most lane if your exit isnt soon
HolyForkingBrit@reddit
Practice once or twice and leave extra time, almost double, the first couple of mornings you leave, just in case. Sometimes traffic doubles my commute and sometimes it doesn’t. Go slow and steady. You got this!
Oddyesy@reddit
I also work out in Southlake/Westlake and came from the Richardson/Garland area before I moved to Carrollton - definitely take pgbt. Take your brother up on the offer to practice so you can get used to it. From memory, traffic gets pretty bad around the coit/preston exits but it clears up after that and it's usually smooth sailing to 635. the portion of 635 it spits you out on is usually really chill and traffic doesn't slow down again until you hit 121/114. let me know if you have any questions!
SMF67@reddit
Definitely take the highway/tollway. I do recommend practicing it. Trying to drive Frankford or trinity mills road or belt line road the whole way will make you want to blow your brains out. It's 20 minutes more outside of rush hour, but more like 40-50 minutes more during rush hour, so it's unavoidable. It's also a lot more dangerous than taking the highway. But this drive is absolutely terrible at rush hour no matter what tbh, just gonna be upfront about that. This is one hell of a terrible commute. I have to drive between Plano/Richardson and keller/NRH often and always avoid rush hour whenever possible, I legit don't think I would be capable of doing such a commute daily on a long term basis. PGBT isn't so bad but 121/114 universally suuuucks at rush hour and theres not really any way around it. That whole area in gets clogged with trucks too. Sadly there's no transit there either, closest would be grapevine.
Any-Machine-4323@reddit
When I used to take a similar route, there was a lot of traffic, and I was unable to drive fast; everyone was doing 40mph. My route was from mesquite-> to Plano. An hour traffic; traffic began around 6am-9am possibly sooner. (School time a lot of traffic) summer roughly 40 min
I would maybe recommend using highway unsure how your commute would be. School is almost over so the roads would be empty/ do you like near UNT Dallas?
Time_Outcome765@reddit
You need to practice your commute during rush hour BEFORE your internship starts. The worst thing you can do to yourself is leave your transportation anxiety unaddressed before starting a new job.
Lastly, it’ll take you more than an hour to get to Westlake from Plano and impatient drivers won’t make your commute any better. Prepare to sit in traffic, pay high tolls, and deal with irritable drivers.
AwHellNawFetaCheese@reddit
It takes practice - just stay out of the fast lane. Give yourself enough space in front of your to safely stop, check your mirrors and blind spots before changing lanes, DO NOT use your phone while driving and you’ll be good.
You’ll be more comfortable in no time just be safe, it’s weird at first but you’ll get used to it.