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Why are North Texas highways named and numbered? Curious Texas investigates 

Drivers in North Texas often encounter a flood of highway names and numbers only to realize they both refer to the same highway.

Getting around North Texas can be confusing, and Donna Lane knows firsthand.

Drivers in North Texas often encounter a flood of highway names and numbers only to realize they both refer to the same highway. Most major highways usually have a numerical state or federal designation and a name of a politician, sports legend, developer or civic leader.

Stemmons Freeway, the Mixmaster and the Purple Heart Trail sound like three different highways, but they’re actually all part of the southbound lanes of Interstate 35E.

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Texas State Highway 121, which runs from downtown Fort Worth to Bonham, is also known as Airport Freeway and Sam Rayburn Tollway. And John W. Carpenter Freeway is known as both Texas State Highway 183 and Texas State Highway 114.

These names and numbers confused Lane, who asked Curious Texas: Why do highways have both numbers and names?

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“Some people call a highway by its name and some by the number,” Lane said. “It creates confusion.”

Curious Texas is a special project from The Dallas Morning News. You ask questions, our...
Curious Texas is a special project from The Dallas Morning News. You ask questions, our journalists find answers.

Her question was shared with Curious Texas, an ongoing project from The Dallas Morning News that invites readers to join in our reporting process. The idea is simple: You have questions, and our journalists are trained to track down answers.

Lane contacted us through our Curious Texas Texts group.

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You can send us your Curious Texas questions by texting “DMN” to 214-817-3868. Follow the prompts and introduce yourself to us, share your story or questions, and we’ll text you with information as we report the story.

Don’t put the blame on the Texas Department of Transportation.

TXDoT spokesman Tony Hartzel said the department does not name highways.

“TxDOT’s official designations use numbers only,” he said via email. “The department does not name highways. Names for highways are usually adopted by local government resolutions or bills passed by the Legislature.

“That’s how highways end up with both a TxDOT number and a name.”

Only a few highways in the area are exempt from having both a number and a name, such as Dallas North Tollway and U.S. Highway 80.

Traffic is seen flowing on the Dallas North Tollway looking north from the bridge on Walnut...
Traffic is seen flowing on the Dallas North Tollway looking north from the bridge on Walnut Hill Lane on in 2018, in Dallas. (Smiley N. Pool / Staff Photographer)

But determining how a highway is officially known — whether it's by its name or number — is up to North Texans, Hartzel told The News in 2015. So basically, the reason why LBJ Freeway is used more often than Interstate 365 or why we recognize Woodall Rodgers Freeway and not Spur 366 is those descriptions of the highway were ultimately accepted by the general public.

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Lack of diversity

Although many of our highways are named after notable figures, North Texas leaders have pointed out that many of these names are of notable white men. The names of notable women, Latinos and African-Americans historically have been left out of D-FW highway names.

Only a handful of highways are named after distinguished women, Latinos and African-Americans. Some of these include Margaret Hunt Hill bridge — named after Dallas philanthropist, founder of Dallas County Heritage Society and vice president of the Dallas Historical Society — which extends from Spur 366 to West Dallas; and a portion of U.S. Highway 175 named after S.M. Wright, the well-known founding pastor of People’s Missionary Baptist Church.

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"Dead Man's Corner" (or Dead Man's Curve) on U.S. 175 is where C.F. Hawn Freeway (bottom,...
"Dead Man's Corner" (or Dead Man's Curve) on U.S. 175 is where C.F. Hawn Freeway (bottom, far right) curved sharply to become S.M. Wright Freeway (vertical line going north towards Dallas), which later connects to Interstate 45 (angle across top of the photo). The area has been under construction for several years. (Staff Photographer / The Dallas Morning News)

We understand these names can be hard to remember, so we’ve created a cheat sheet of some of the area's well-known highways for Lane and other readers to use the next time they’re confused on their North Texas commute.

Interstate 20: In the Dallas-Fort Worth area it is known as Ronald Reagan Memorial Highway, named after the former U.S. president.

Interstate 35: Between Dallas and the Ellis County line, it is known as South R.L. Thornton Freeway, named after prominent Dallas businessman and former mayor Robert L. Thornton. The section in downtown Dallas that connects I-35 to I-30 is known as the Mixmaster, which was upgraded as part of the Horseshoe Project. Parts of the interstate are also known as Stemmons Corridor or Stemmons Freeway, named after late Dallas businessman Leslie Stemmons, from downtown Dallas to Lewisville.

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Interstate 30: Between Mesquite and downtown Dallas, it is known as East R.L. Thornton, named after prominent Dallas businessman and former mayor Robert L. Thornton. The part of I-30 that runs along the south side of downtown separating downtown Dallas and the Cedars is known as The Canyon. The section that connects the interstate with I-35 East is known as the Mixmaster, which was upgraded as part of The Horseshoe Project. And between I-35 East and I-35 West it is known as Tom Landry Freeway, named after the late Dallas Cowboys coach.

Interstate 45: The stretch of I-45 from the Trinity River in Dallas to downtown Dallas is known as Julius Schepps Freeway, which is named after Dallas philanthropist, businessman and founder WRR-FM (101.1) in Dallas — Texas' oldest radio station.

Interstate 635: The interstate makes a partial loop from Balch Springs into Dallas and to the north entrance of the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. It is known as Lyndon B. Johnson Freeway, LBJ Freeway and as LBJ. The interstate connects with U.S. 75 north of downtown Dallas at the High Five Interchange, a five-level stack of interchanges.

U.S. Highway 75: This route that runs from south to north from downtown Dallas to the Oklahoma border and beyond is known as Central Expressway.

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U.S. Highway 80: The route does not have a name in North Texas.

U.S. Highway 380: The portion of this highway that runs east to west in Denton is known as University Drive.

U.S. Highway 377: This north to south highway that runs from Denton to Fort Worth is known as Denton Highway in Keller.

U.S. Highway 175: The highway begins south of downtown Dallas at an interchange with I-45. As the highway heads into southeast Dallas, it is known as S.M. Wright Freeway, previously known as South Central Expressway. That portion of the highway is named after well-known pastor of the People's Missionary Church in South Dallas in the late 1950s. As the highway heads from South Dallas to Southeast Dallas, it makes a sharp turn that is known locally as Dead Man's Curve. The highway is known as C.F. Hawn Freeway, named after former state highway commissioner Charles F. Hawn.

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Texas State Highway 114: From Dallas to Grapevine, the highway is known as John W. Carpenter Freeway, named after the Dallas businessman.

Texas State Highway 121: The part of the highway that runs between Fort Worth and Euless is known as Airport Freeway. The highway turns into a tollway east of Coppell known as the Sam Rayburn Tollway, which is named after the U.S. House speaker with the longest tenure.

Texas State Highway 121: The section of the highway that serves the southern entrance of Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport is known as Airport Freeway.

Dallas North Tollway: The tollway has no other names or numbers.

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President George Bush Turnpike: The turnpike passes through northern Dallas County and southern Collin and Denton counties. It is named after the late U.S. President George H.W. Bush, and is also known by its PGBT acronym.

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