Texas State Highway Loop 12

State Highway Loop 12
Route information
Length:	47.74 mi[1] (76.83 km)
Existed:	1939[1] – present
Major junctions
CCW end:	I-30
	US 75 Dallas North Tollway I-35E SH 114 SH 183 US 67 SH 342 I-45 US 175
CW end:	I-30
Highway system
Highways in Texas Interstate US State Toll Loops Spurs FM/RM Park Rec ← Loop 11 Loop 13 →

Intersection of Loop 12 with US 75

Texas State Highway 289 Preston Road intersection Loop 12 Northwest Highway

Loop 12 Northwest Highway at Dallas North Tollway toward Douglas Ave

Loop 12 Northwest Highway at Dallas North Tollway toward Hathaway St

Loop 12 is a state highway that runs mostly within the city limits of Dallas, Texas. The western segment of the loop is named after General Walton Walker who served and died in South Korea. During the 1950s and 1960s, Loop 12 was the outer beltway in the Dallas area, having since been supplanted by Interstate 635, which is itself being supplanted by the President George Bush Turnpike (SH 190). Loop 12 is, however, the only state highway in Dallas that forms a complete loop (Belt Line Road is also a complete loop but is not a state road except for a stretch as part of Farm to Market Road 1382).

Route description

Starting in the east at Interstate 30, Loop 12 goes north as Buckner Boulevard, following surface streets past White Rock Lake. Just north of White Rock Lake, it intersects Spur 244^[2] and becomes Northwest Highway to the west; because there is an eastern and a western segment to this part of the road, at certain points the road signs read "East Northwest Highway." It continues west along surface streets over Central Expressway (US 75) and the Dallas North Tollway and moves north of Bachman Lake and Dallas Love Field.

After crossing Interstate 35E, Loop 12 moves south as a freeway, locally known as Walton Walker Boulevard, passing where Texas Stadium once sat at the interchanges with State Highways 114 and 183. The segment between I-35E (Stemmons Freeway) and Spur 408 is the only portion of Loop 12 that is freeway. It is also the only portion that leaves the Dallas city limits, as it runs through the eastern portion of Irving between where the road crosses the Elm Fork of the Trinity River (northern boundary, just north of the former site of Texas Stadium) and where it crosses the West Fork of the Trinity River (southern boundary).

After intersecting Interstate 30 for the second time, Loop 12 continues south, joining surface streets again west of Mountain Creek Lake at Mountain Creek Parkway and Patriot Parkway (or Spur 408, which provides a southwesterly freeway link to I-20). It continues to the southeast, turning east along Ledbetter Drive, just north of Dallas Executive Airport (formerly Red Bird Airport). It continues east, crossing US 67, Interstate 35E for the second time and Interstate 45. At the intersection with US 175 and Murdock Road, Loop 12 turns north again as Buckner Boulevard all the way back to Interstate 30. The portion between Bonnie View Rd. and US 175 is also known as Great Trinity Forest Way as it passes across an undeveloped portion of the Trinity River and the Trinity River Audubon Center.

Major intersections

The entire route is in Dallas County.

Location	mi	km	Destinations	Notes
Dallas			South Polk Street	interchange
			US 67 (Marvin D. Love Freeway)	interchange
			Ledbetter Drive / Cockrell Hill Road	interchange; access from Cockrell Hill to northbound Loop 12 is indirect via Exchange Service Road
			Spur 408 to I-20 / Illinois Avenue / Mountain Creek Parkway	interchange; south (counterclockwise) end of freeway; northbound access to Spur 408 is indirect via Illinois Avenue
			Keeneland Parkway
			SH 180 (Davis Street) / Jefferson Boulevard
			Frontage Road	southbound (counterclockwise) exit only
			I-30 – Dallas, Fort Worth	I-30 exit 38
			Singleton Boulevard
Irving			Shady Grove Road
			SH 356 (Irving Boulevard)
			Union Bower Road
			Grauwyler Road
			SH 183 – Fort Worth, Dallas	no access from Loop 12 south (counterclockwise) to SH 183 east
			SH 114 / Texas Plaza – DFW Airport, Grapevine
Dallas			Spur 348 west (Northwest Highway)	interchange; north (clockwise) end of freeway
			I-35E (Stemmons Freeway / US 77) – Denton, Dallas	I-35E exits 436A-B
			Spur 482 (Storey Lane) – Irving	interchange
			Loop 354 (Harry Hines Boulevard)	interchange
			Marsh Lane / Lemmon Avenue	interchange
			Dallas North Tollway
University Park–Dallas line			SH 289 north (Preston Road)
Dallas			US 75	US 75 exit 5A
			Skillman Street	interchange
			Spur 244 east (Northwest Highway) – Garland
			East Lawther Drive	interchange; no direct northbound (counterclockwise) exit
			Peavy Road / Mockingbird Lane	interchange
			SH 78 (Garland Road)
			Ferguson Road	interchange
			I-30 (US 67) / US 80	I-30 exit 53A
			Military Parkway	interchange
			SH 352 (Scyene Road)	interchange
			US 175 (C.F. Hawn Freeway)	interchange
			Service Road	interchange
			SH 310	interchange
			I-45 – Houston, Dallas, McKinney	I-45 exit 279
			SH 342 south (Lancaster Road) – Lancaster
			I-35E (R.L. Thornton Freeway / US 77) – Waxahachie, Dallas	I-35E exit 421
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

References

1. Transportation Planning and Programming Division (n.d.). "State Highway Loop No. 12". Highway Designation Files. Texas Department of Transportation. Retrieved June 18, 2010.