I’ve lived in Johnson County for years, but my work — and frankly, most of my waking hours — pulls me north to Fort Worth. This is very fitting given where I work. So every weekday, like clockwork, I point my truck toward the concrete tangle of I-35W and brace myself for the gauntlet.
If you’ve ever crawled along that stretch between Burleson and Fort Worth, you know what I mean. The gridlock starts just past Texas 174 — Wilshire Boulevard — and doesn’t really let up until you’re threading the I-20 needle. It’s a soul-sapping, brake-tapping, patience-testing mess.
But lately, there’s a glimmer of hope. According to a recent Fort Worth Star-Telegram report, the Texas Department of Transportation is moving forward with a plan to reconfigure and widen I-35W south of the city. There’s no official start or completion date yet — it’s been in the works since 2019 — but the conversation is gaining momentum.
From what I’ve seen in the planning documents, the proposals boil down to several core ideas. One is to expand the highway from three lanes to five or six in each direction. Some versions have five lanes northbound and six southbound between I-20 and Risinger Road, before tapering back to five through Burleson. Others pitch six lanes both ways until Risinger, then five lanes to Renfro Street.
Then there’s the toll option. TxDOT could follow the same path they did north of Fort Worth and add express lanes. One idea is reversible lanes — one express lane that switches directions depending on rush-hour demand. Another involves four general-purpose lanes and one dedicated express lane in each direction.
Even the frontage roads are getting a look. Between I-20 and Texas 174, TxDOT recommends widening them from two to three lanes, with added bike and pedestrian paths. That part — I’ll admit — made me do a double-take. I don’t see many cyclists braving this stretch, but hey, more power to them.
Bigger changes could come to the interchanges at FM 1187 and Texas 174 — two of the worst chokepoints for anyone heading to Crowley or Burleson. One proposal is a partial cloverleaf at FM 1187 to ease the nightmare of southbound traffic stacking up at the light. Another option: a diamond interchange that would let vehicles merge directly onto westbound 1187 without stopping.
South of there, things really narrow. I-35W goes from three lanes down to two at Texas 174. TxDOT’s new plans would hold steady with three lanes at that point — five if you include the exit-only lanes — while also adding overpasses at Texas 174 and Hillery Street, and again at Renfro Street. It’s an effort to untangle some of the worst backups near Old Town Burleson.
If you’re not from around here, it’s hard to grasp just how essential this corridor is. I-35W is the backbone for folks living in Burleson, Crowley, Everman, and southern Fort Worth. Between 2010 and 2019, Tarrant County was the fifth fastest-growing county in the country, according to the U.S. Census Bureau — and the roads haven’t kept up.
The Fort Worth TxDOT district is studying the full corridor from I-20 to SH 174, with the goal of improving capacity, mobility, and — hallelujah — safety. But it’s not just a state-level effort. Local voices matter here, too. Property owners, residents, and business folks can weigh in during the study’s key milestones and public meetings.
Until then, I’ll keep inching my way north every morning and crawling back south every evening — windows down, coffee in hand, praying that someday soon, the open road might actually live up to its name.