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Dallas – Fort Worth

The Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex encompasses the metropolitan divisions of Dallas–Plano–Irving and Fort Worth–Arlington, within the U.S. state of Texas. The Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex is officially known as the Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington Metropolitan Area, a title designated by the U.S. Census as of 2003 and consists of twelve counties in North Texas. The Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex is mainly served by the area codes of 214, 972, 469, 682, and 817.
 
According to the U.S. Census 2000, the metropolitan area had 5,161,544 people, but a 2003 estimate puts the population at 5,589,670. The Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington MSA is the fifth largest United States metropolitan area and one of the 50 largest metropolitan areas in the world.

The DFW metroplex at night, photographed from the International Space Station in early 2003. Dallas is the larger nexus of light on the right (east), Fort Worth the smaller on the left (west). Blurriness over parts of the image is caused by clouds. Courtesy NASA.

Dallas

Dallas is the third-largest city within the State of Texas, ninth in the United States, and together with Fort Worth and the Mid-Cities form the largest metropolitan economic area in the south-central United States. As of the 2000 U.S. Census, Dallas had a total population of 1.1 million (est. as of July 1, 2004 at 1,210,393). Dallas is the county seat of Dallas County. A small portion of the city also extends into the neighboring counties of Collin County, Denton County, Kaufman County, and Rockwall County.

Dallas is within the Dallas–Plano–Irving metropolitan division and is the main cultural and economic center of the Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan area, a title designated by the U.S. Census, and is colloquially referred to as the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex or simply as “DFW”. As of the 2000 census, the Metroplex had a population of about 5.1 million making it the fifth largest United States metropolitan area and one of the 50 largest metropolitan areas in the world. A more recent U.S. Census estimate, however, puts the metropolitan area population at about 5.6 million for 2003.

Dallas was named a “Gamma World City” by the Globalization and World Cities Study Group & Network (GaWC). The metro area is the largest concentration of corporate headquarters in the United States. The area is also served by the world’s third busiest airport.

Fort Worth 
Fort Worth is located about 30 miles (50 km) west of Dallas on the West Fork of the Trinity River. It is the county seat of Tarrant County. As of the 2004 U.S. Census estimates, the city had a total population of 603,337 — now the fifth-largest city within Texas and 19th in the United States. The area codes are 817 and 682. Fort Worth is within the Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan division of the Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan area, a title designated by the U.S. Census, and is colloquially referred to as the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Addition Information
For more information about the Dallas/Fort Worth area please visit Eric Slotboom’s site at http://dfwfreeways.info/default.aspx

Historic documents
See the amazing 1967 freeway plan for Dallas, as well as 1971 and 1978 maps. Fascinating photos from DFW freeway past, going back to the 1950’s. See road maps from 1960, 1962, 1965, 1966, 1969, 1974, and 1979.

Photo Gallery
Demolition of the IH-30 Lancaster Elevated – The original elevated structure was permanently removed in the second half of 2001.
Aerial Tour of North Dallas (added 10-Feb-2002)– See some nice views, courtesy of the Texas Transportation Institute.
Interstate 35W, Fort Worth (added 26-August-2001)– The huge new interchange at IH-30 will was completed in early 2002.
360 north, west of DFW Airport (added 13-June-2001)– The north section is the only non-freeway section, but will be upgraded soon.
Interstate 45 (added 17-May-2001)– IH-45 crosses sparsely populated southeast Dallas.
Central Expressway, US75 (photos added 17-May-2001)– Major reconstruction was completed in November 1999.
190, Bush Turnpike – The northern section was opened on July 31, 2001.
Drive the 190/Bush Turnpike – (added 22-August-2001) Get a driver’s view of the impressive new facility.
161 – Four connectors for a 5-level stack opened in July 2000
190 and 161 index – See the status of all the segments of these new facilities
Downtown Dallas – See views of the freeways around downtown Dallas, including the site of the upcoming Woodall Rogers Freeway bridge.
I-20/I-635 – This wide freeway along the southern perimeter of the metroplex features one stack after another.
Dallas North Tollway – Interim coverage until I can get better photos.
DFW area – See freeway images from around the DFW region.

Construction
Dallas High Five Interchange (Updated March 9, 2003)
Construction photos of completed projects.

Freeways in Development and Future Freeways
161 Freeway – All legal challenges to this all-new freeway were dismissed in February 2000. Look for contruction to begin in 2003.
199 Freeway – Northwest Fort Worth
170 Freeway – Far North Fort Worth. This will form part of the outer Loop 9 freeway.
114 Freeway (major update 15-October-2001) – Northwest of DFW airport
121 Freeway – (updated 10-June-2001) $524 million in funding was approved in July 2001.
Trinity Turnpike – The turnpike is threatened by alignment controversy and escalating cost.

Deleted Content (last updated 26-August-2002)
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See the list of deleted DFW content.