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The revitalization of 75: DFW’s most dreaded freeway

First rule of living in Texas: always refer to highways, expressways and parkways by their number, not their names. Second rule: avoid 75 at all costs.
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Photo by David Downs

First rule of living in Texas: always refer to highways, expressways and parkways by their number, not their names. Second rule: avoid 75 at all costs. Every DFW resident dreads driving on Central Expressway, better known as 75, especially during rush hours. 75 is congested, always under construction, and with DFW’s population projected to grow to 10 million by 2030, traffic is expected to rise. There are, however, plans underway to revitalize 75, in order to reduce traffic and provide easily accessible business, art, and cultural opportunities for people who drive down 75 regularly.

One of the first steps toward the revitalization of 75 comes in the form of Legacy Central, an office park which opened last year in east Plano. Legacy Central houses major tenants like Samsung and Peloton, and also a food hall, similar to Legacy Hall in Legacy West. It boasts amenities like a swimming pool, a fitness center, outdoor meeting areas and walking trails.

Legacy Central opened this past August, and is currently in phase two of construction | Renderings via Legacy Central

Following its $1 billion renovation project, Collin Creek shopping center will contain 1 million square feet of office space, along with 15 to 20 new restaurants.

Read more: Angela Miner on her journey to City Council, her vision for Plano and why she won’t seek re-election

As north Texas’s population is expected to grow, there will be a need for more forms of mass transit. Next year, Uber Elevate will be testing EVTOLs (electronic vertical take-off and landing vehicles) in North Texas, allowing passengers to avoid heavy traffic from Dallas to Plano or Frisco. A 20-mile trip from DFW airport to the Legacy Business District is expected to take only eight minutes.

Read more: Uber Elevate and the future of flying cars in Collin County

A rendering of an EVOTL approaching a vertiport. Image courtesy of an Uber Elevate video on YouTube

The Cotton Belt Corridor, a new DART rail line, will also offer commuters a convenient form of mass transit, with stops in Plano, Richardson, North Dallas, Addison, Carrollton, Coppell, and Grapevine. It is projected to open in 2022, and is expected to carry up to 7,000 passengers per day, greatly reducing traffic on 75 and other major highways.

The Cotton Belt Corridor is set to open in 2022 | Via @DARTDallas on Facebook

Read more: DART secures $908M loan for Cotton Belt Corridor

In 2017, the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington metroplex was the largest growing metropolitan area, per the United States Census Bureau. As the metroplex is only expected to grow, it is absolutely vital that we have the resources necessary to accommodate the projected growth. The revitalization of 75 is one key step in making the DFW metroplex more easy to navigate.