The studied portion of IH 35E was constructed in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s as part of the United States’ Interstate Highway System. For over a decade, the steady increase in population and urban development of nearby cities and communities in Denton County have added an influx of daily workforce commuters along IH 35E. The current infrastructure is slowly deteriorating and becoming unable to meet current demand. This is easily understood considering that IH 35E is the only major freeway that serves north-south traffic through Denton County from Dallas. Roadway improvements and new roadways need to be constructed in order to meet the growing travel demand of the area.

IH 35E is also part of a North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) corridor, extending from Mexico to Canada. Historically, the IH 35E corridor has functioned as a principle route of national and international commerce due to its centralized location both nationally and statewide. Therefore, this corridor accommodates important interests to both the local and national economy.

The existing IH 35E is a six lane freeway from IH 635 to Quail Run, just north of the Lake Lewisville Bridge, and from Quail Run to US 380 it is a four lane freeway. The southern portion of IH 35E from IH 635 to SH 121 has an interim concurrent HOV with a single lane in each direction. To implement the interim HOV the three mainlanes in each direction were reduced to 11 feet and the inside shoulder was reconstructed to provide the width for the HOV. The interim HOV was opened in 1996 from IH 635 to Frankford Road and in 2002 from Frankford Road to SH 121.

Managed Lanes

Managed lanes are a strategy to help manage traffic.  They allow motorists a choice and are intended to keep traffic moving at a faster, more reliable speed (minimum average of 50 mph) by adjusting the toll rate up and down on a roadway as the number of vehicles increases or decreases, respectively.  Motorists can choose to drive on the new and improved general purpose/main lanes or they can choose to pay for a higher level of services on managed lanes. Drivers can expect to pay more to use managed lanes during peak travel times than at off-peak hours on the IH 35E facility. The proposed managed lanes provide increased safety over the existing interim buffer separated HOV lanes by adding a concrete barrier and shoulders to the inside of the mainlanes as well as outside of the managed lanes, and allowing dedicated entrances and exits at numerous points along the roadway.  All drivers receive the benefit of improved and increased capacity of the general purpose/main lanes and frontage roads.