Reverse Commute Estimate - Uptown to... (Grand Prairie, Grapevine: home, construction, school)

[bstrong04]

Realistically, what kind of commute should I expect from Uptown to the north side of DFW airport?

How congested is the 114?

[TurtleCreek80]

North side of the airport is rough right now - and for next 3-ish years- due to a major construction project on both 114 and 121.

If you are truly just going to the north side of the airport (Grapevine Mills area), I'd allow 45 min and know that in some days it will be 60+. If you're really going north of the airport (Westlake, Keller, etc), allow 60 min.

[ChristieP]

That's really not all a reverse commute. Traffic into Grapevine in the mornings is heavy. The construction only makes it worse!

[bstrong04]

The office is south of Coppell on N. Freeport Pkwy.

Thanks guys!

[SimpleLife2]

^Honestly, with that location, you've got a few traffic-avoidance options. On the way to work, you'll have options to exit 114 before it gets all backed up going into Grapevine and points south and west. And you'll also be exiting prior to the major construction on 114/121/International Parkway that's due north of the airport.

On the way back home, traffic has the potential to get a little heavy just past Las Colinas and as 114 merges with 183 and then I-35. But I don't think it would be TOO bad. (Nothing like So Cal. ARE you from So Cal?? Just guessing because of this: "the 114." Us Texans don't preface our highway numbers with articles, lol, but I have a handful of California-transplant friends who do!)

It's true that there's lots of construction along 114. These days, it's primarily to the west of your office location and to the east between Las Colinas and I-35, both eastbound and westbound lanes.

I'd give it 40-45 minutes TO work, with normal commute-time traffic, and 25-30 minutes with no traffic or light traffic. If you travel back home at a time when I-35E is NOT backed up going southbound (which it tends to be in the late afternoon between, oh, maybe UT Southwestern and points south of I-30) I'd give it 35-40 minutes. If you catch the traffic that backs up on I-35E (which seems to happen mainly because of all the lanes merging onto I-35 and all the lane changes going on farther south as people jockey to exit onto Woodall Rogers and I-30), then I'd give it more like 45-55 minutes. But again, you'll have options to exit the highway earlier and work your way over to Uptown via the backroads. When highway traffic is backed up, the backroads are the way to go!

I'd tend to agree more with TurtleCreek80's higher estimates if you weren't able to exit 114 prior to the major backups created by the large construction project immediately west of your office location.

[bstrong04]

Now that is an informative post! Thanks you for taking the time to reply.

Yes, I have lived in so cal

[Squirl]

I'd almost take I-30 west to the Beltline exit in Grand Prairie OR Carpenter to 183 west and Beltline exit;then take Beltline north and cross LBJ/635 and take a left on Wrangler or Airline == both deadend into Freeport..... Beltline is a POA between 183 and 114 for a couple of school zones but it is a 3 lane street on each side.... have never tried this but you would miss construction that way.

[SimpleLife2]

^Hi Squirl. I've seen you on other threads about traffic, lol. We seem to have similar traffic aversions (and opinions)!

I know what you're saying, and it might be worth a try someday ... but in bstrong's case I think that route would increase commute times, not decrease them. The traffic does slow down and bunch up a bit on 114 where all those lanes are narrowed and chewed up, but the majority of his/her drive is still kind of a reverse commute. It shouldn't be too bad on the ol' hypontenuse, I don't think.

[GreyDay]

20 mins. 75-35-183-DFW. Or go up Lemmon to Mockingbird and catch it there.