Interstate 820

Interstate 820
Route information
Maintained by TxDOT
Length:	35.173 mi[1] (56.605 km)
Existed:	October 1, 1959[1] – present
Major junctions
West end:	I-20
	I-30 I-35W SH 121 / SH 183 US 287
East end:	I-20
Highway system
Interstate Highway System Main Auxiliary Suffixed Business Highways in Texas Interstate US State Toll Loops Spurs FM/RM Park Rec ← I-635 SH 824 →

Interstate 820 (I-820) is a loop of Interstate 20 in Fort Worth, Texas of approximately 35.17 miles (56.60 km) around the city and some of its suburbs. Exit numbers begin at its intersection with I-20 in southwest Fort Worth, and continue in a clockwise direction around the city until it ends at its intersection with I-20 in southeast Fort Worth. A portion of I-820 in the northeast quadrant is co-signed with State Highway 121 as well as State Highway 183. The northwest segment of the loop is officially designated as the Jim Wright Freeway after former United States House Speaker Jim Wright. However, the name is not commonly used, the colloquial reference by the general public is 820.

Route description

I-820 begins in the southwestern Fort Worth at an interchange with I-20. It heads north from this interchange to a junction with Spur 580 before reaching I-30 at a stack interchange. Continuing to the north, the Interstate begins to turn to the northeast as it approaches Lake Worth. It passes near Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth as it passes over Lake Worth. I-820 passes through the city of Lake Worth briefly with junctions at SH 199 and FM 1220 before reentering Fort Worth city limits. Continuing to the northeast, a junction with U.S. Route 287 Business provides access to Fort Worth Meacham International Airport. At an interchange with FM 156 in the city of Saginaw, I-820 begins to head towards the east. Continuing east, I-820 has a junction with I-35W at a stack interchange. The freeway enters the city limits of Haltom City at North Beach Street and has an interchange with US 377 before entering North Richland Hills. As it passes through North Richland Hills, the freeway turns towards the southeast briefly before turning back towards the east at SH 26. As it enters Hurst the freeway has an interchange with a concurrent SH 121 and State Highway 183. I-820 begins to head south after the interchange, now running concurrently with SH 121 and SH 183. At an interchange with SH 10, SH 183 leaves the concurrency to the west. At the next exit, SH 121 leaves I-820 towards the southwest. Continuing towards the South, I-820 leaves Hurst and reenters the Fort Worth city limits. Heading south through eastern Fort Worth, I-820 has a second junction with I-30, also at a stack interchange. After the interchange, the freeway continues south to a junction at SH 180 near Lake Arlington. I-820 begins to follow the western shore of Lake Arlington to an interchange with US 287. I-820 and US 287 both continue to the south to an interchange with I-20 at the end of I-820.^[2]

History

The highway was first conceived in 1949 as a beltway around Fort Worth. The first section to open ran from McCart Avenue to US 377 at a cost of $11 million. The southern leg of the loop was re-designated as I-20 in 1972 and finished construction in 1982, completing a continuous loop around Fort Worth.^[3]

The loop is often considered the most congested road in North Texas, with the interchanges at Rufe Snow Drive, Holiday Lane and Denton Highway (US 377) being named the first, second and third worst, respectively, in 2010.^[4]

Future

I-820 is currently in the process of undergoing a massive reconstruction project between I-35W and SH 121/SH 183 known as the North Tarrant Express. The project was supposed to add additional lanes, add high occupancy toll lanes, add continuous frontage roads, and reconstruct the interchange with I-35W and various other interchanges. Unfortunately, this vision was modified. The highway restricts traffic to only two lanes of traffic from the I-35W/I-820 interchange. After the 183/121 fork, southeast of Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, the highway boasts up to four lanes at when nearing Spur 97. The North Tarrant Express began construction in October 2010^[5] and is expected to be completed in June 2015,^[6] but is on track to be done by the end of 2014.^[7]

Exit list

The entire route is in Tarrant County.

Location	mi	km	Exit	Destinations	Notes
Fort Worth			1	I-20 – Dallas, Abilene	Southbound exit and northbound entrance, western terminus; exit 1 is for 20 west; I-20 exit 428
			1A	Team Ranch Road	southbound exit and northbound entrance
			1B	Chapin Road	no direct southbound exit (signed at exit 2)
			2	Spur 580 (Camp Bowie West Boulevard)
			3	I-30 – Weatherford, Downtown Fort Worth	Split into exits 3A (west) and 3B (east); I-30 west exits 5A-B, east exits 5B-C
			3C	Westpoint Boulevard / Alemeda Street	southbound exit and northbound entrance
			4	White Settlement Road
			5A	Clifford Street
			5B	Silver Creek Road
			6	Las Vegas Trail / Heron Drive
			Bridge over Lake Worth
			8	Navajo Trail / Cahoba Drive
			9	Quebec Street	no direct westbound exit (signed at exit 10A)
Fort Worth–Lake Worth line			10A	SH 199 (Jacksboro Highway)
Lake Worth			10B	FM 1220 (Azle Avenue)	no direct eastbound exit (signed at exit 10A)
Fort Worth			12	Marine Creek Parkway / Old Decatur Road	Signed as exits 12A (Marine Creek Parkway) and 12B (Old Decatur Road) westbound
			13	Bus. US 287 (Main Street) – Saginaw
			14	Railhead Road	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
Saginaw–Fort Worth line			15	FM 156 (Blue Mound Road)
Fort Worth			16C	Mark IV Parkway
			16	I-35W / US 287 – Denton, Downtown Fort Worth	Signed as exits 16A (north) and 16B (south); I-35W exits 57A-B
				I-820 Express east to SH 26 / SH 121 / SH 183 – DFW Airport	eastbound exit and westbound entrance
			17	North Riverside Drive	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
Haltom City			18	Haltom Road / North Beach Street
			19	US 377 (Denton Highway)	no direct eastbound exit (signed at exit 18)
North Richland Hills			20A	Iron Horse Boulevard / Meadow Lakes Drive	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
				I-820 Express west to I-35W	westbound exit and eastbound entrance
			20B	Rufe Snow Drive	signed as exit 20 eastbound
			21	Holiday Lane	no direct eastbound exit (signed at exit 20)
			22A	SH 26 / FM 1938 north / Bedford-Euless Road – Colleyville, TCC Northeast Campus	signed as exit 22B northbound, access to North Hills Hospital
Hurst			22B	SH 121 north / SH 183 east – DFW Airport, Dallas	north end of SH 121 / SH 183 overlap; signed as exit 22A northbound
			23A	SH 121 Express north / SH 183 Express east to FM 157	northbound exit and southbound entrance
			23	Pipeline Road / Glenview Drive	Access to North Hills Hospital
			24A	SH 10 east / SH 183 west – Richland Hills	south end of SH 183 overlap; signed as exit 24 northbound
			24B	SH 121 south – Downtown Fort Worth	south end of SH 121 overlap; no direct northbound exit (signed at exit 24)
Fort Worth			25	Trinity Boulevard
			26	Randol Mill Road
			27	John T. White Road / Bridge Street
			28A	I-30 – Dallas, Downtown Fort Worth	Signed as exits 28A (east) and 28B (west) southbound; I-30 east exit 21A, west exits 21B-C
			28B	Brentwood Stair Road	signed as exit 28C southbound
			29	Meadowbrook Drive
			30A	Craig Street	no direct northbound exit (signed with SH 180)
			30B	SH 180 (Lancaster Avenue)	signed as exit 30A northbound
			30B	Spur 303 (Rosedale Street)	no direct southbound exit (signed with SH 180)
			30C	Ramey Avenue
			31	East Berry Street
			32	Wilbarger Street	no direct northbound exit (signed at exit 33B); no southbound entrance
			33A	US 287 north – Downtown Fort Worth	north end of US 287 overlap
			33B	Martin Street / Wilbarger Street	No southbound exit
			33C	Sun Valley Drive
			34A	I-20 east / US 287 south – Waxahachie, Dallas	southbound exit and northbound entrance; south end of US 287 overlap
				I-20 west – Abilene	Southbound exit and northbound entrance; eastern terminus; I-20 exit 442B
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Incomplete access

References

1. Transportation Planning and Programming Division (n.d.). "Interstate Highway No. 820". Highway Designation Files. Texas Department of Transportation. Retrieved February 27, 2008.
2. Google (February 24, 2008). "Overview Map of I-820" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved February 24, 2008.
3. Staff. "I-820 Timeline". Texas Department of Transportation. Retrieved April 25, 2014.
4. Tomaso, Bruce (February 24, 2010). "Fort Worth's Loop 820 tops list of region's worst". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved April 25, 2014.
5. Staff. "North Tarrant Express". Texas Department of Transportation. Retrieved April 25, 2014.
6. Staff. "Project Timeline for the North Tarrant Express (NTE) Project". North Tarrant Express. Retrieved April 25, 2014.
7. Dickson, Gordon (February 21, 2014). "North Tarrant Express to be finished by end of year". Fort Worth Star Telegram. Retrieved April 25, 2014.

External links

Route map: Bing / Google

• Interstate Guide: I-820
• I-820 info page -- from dfwfreeways.info