Loop 9 Transportation Study

Project History

The concept of an "Outer Loop" freeway around the Dallas metropolitan area was first identified in 1964 by the greater Dallas Planning Council. In 1968, the Texas Highway Commission authorized this outer loop around Dallas and designated it as part of the highway system to be known as Loop 9.

In August of 1976, a management audit report on the Texas State Department of Highways and Public Transportation (SDHPT) indicated problems in financing the then designated highway system which led to cancellation of the Loop 9 freeway as it had been approved in 1968. In its place, the now constructed SH 161 from I20 to IH 635 and SH 190 from SH 78 in Garland west to IH 35E were approved.

On November 5, 1991, Dallas County voters approved the 1991 County Bond Program, authorizing over $175,000,000 in bonds for transportation improvements. Included in the bond program was funding for the Loop 9 Feasibility and Route Alignment Study.

The Loop 9 Feasibility and Route Alignment Study was authorized in 1995. The limits of the study corridor were defined as the proposed extension of SH 360 in Ellis County to IH 20 in Mesquite. The North Central Texas Council of Governments initiated a similar effort for the corridor continuing west of SH 360 to beyond IH 35W near Crowley. In 1997, study efforts resulted in a "Technically Preferred Alignment" that was approved and/or adopted by many of the cities and agencies involved in the Study. However, due to some technical problems with the preferred alignment, study efforts were suspended before a "Locally Preferred Alignment" was identified. The present day Loop 9 Study picks up where previous study efforts left off, studying the original alignments as well as newly identified alignments, and incorporating new federal mandates pertaining to the development of an environmental impact statement.