U.S. Route 175


U.S. Highway 175 is a east-west United States Numbered Highway located completely within the state of Texas. It comes very close to meeting its parent route, US 75, but decommissioning and rerouting in Downtown Dallas leaves it short a couple of miles. Before the decommissioning of US 75 south of downtown Dallas in favor of Interstate 45, US 175 met US 75. US 175's western terminus is in Dallas at I-45. The highway's eastern terminus is in Jacksonville at an intersection with US 69.
Much of the US 175 corridor is part of TxDOT's network of evacuation routes in the event of a hurricane. TxDOT also considers the highway an alternative to using I-20 to travel to and from Dallas-Fort Worth, and feels the corridor is an important connection for students to get to Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, as well. Besides its hurricane evacuation route status, US 175 is considered part of the National Highway System, the Texas Trunk System, and is also included in the state's highway freight network.
Of all the three-digit U.S. Highways located within Texas, US 175 is the shortest.

Route description

Dallas County

US 175 begins south of downtown Dallas at an interchange with Interstate 45. At this point, US 175 is four lanes in width—two eastbound and two westbound. The highway is a freeway-style structure that is, at first, elevated over the nearby neighborhoods of Ideal and Bonton, in South Dallas. US 175 also carries the name of the C.F. Hawn Freeway here, named after Charles Fred Hawn, a former lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy from Athens.
After passing over State Highway 310, a third lane is added in each direction of the freeway. After passing Bexar Street and Municipal Drive, the freeway goes into a lowland area that includes a crossing of White Rock Creek, then the freeway turns southeastward at the Second Avenue/Bruton Road exit. US 175 comes back up from the lowland area at the Lake June Road exit.
US 175 passes through the Pleasant Grove area of Dallas past an interchange with Loop 12, and then Interstate 20 a few miles later. The interchange with I-20 is a “stack” style, and is located just south of I-20’s interchange with Interstate 635 which US 175 also connects into; this is also a brief point where US 175 passes out of Dallas and into Balch Springs, then right back into Dallas. The freeway continues, but narrows to four lanes at the I-20 interchange.
After the Woody Road exit, US 175 leaves Dallas and enters the city of Seagoville. On the east side of Seagoville, US 175 leaves Dallas County.

Kaufman County

As US 175 comes into Kaufman County, the surroundings become more rural. The freeway descends into a river valley and wetlands area, and then crosses the East Fork of the Trinity River. This marks the city limit boundary between Seagoville and Crandall.
After rising out of the valley area, the highway goes through Crandall by intersecting Farm to Market Road 741, then passing the center of town, and another exit, with Farm to Market Road 148. A few miles later, a rural interchange for County Road 4104-Bud Stoy Road marks the city limit border of Crandall and Kaufman. The freeway continues into Kaufman past a wide right curve at the State Highway 243 interchange, then passes by a brief urban section at the Business State Highway 34 exit. After another mile, an exit for State Highway 34 comes along.
After that exit, US 175 loses its freeway characteristics but continues as a four-lane divided highway. The highway proceeds for several miles before approaching Kemp. Here a bypass takes US 175 around the north and east of town, while the first of four business routes of US 175 goes through Kemp along US 175's previous routing in the area. After the bypass makes its way past a freeway-style exit at State Highway 274, US 175 leaves the main part of Kemp.
The highway continues as a divided four-lane road past two multi-bridge spans of Cedar Creek Reservoir. Between the two spans is the city limit border between Kemp and Mabank. After the second span of the lake, US 175 begins bypassing the main part of Mabank while another US 175 business route serves a through-town portion along a previous routing of the highway. One part of US 175 along its bypass is freeway-style, at an interchange with State Highway 198. The highway leaves Kaufman County just before completing its bypass of Mabank.

Henderson County

US 175 enters Henderson County as it approaches an at-grade intersection with the east end of Business US 175. The highway continues being divided with four lanes. A rural at-grade intersection with a county road marks the city limit border between Mabank and Gun Barrel City, then US 175 approaches a freeway-style interchange with State Highway 334. This state highway connects to the main portion of Gun Barrel City to the west, and is the last major road connecting US 175 to Cedar Creek Reservoir.
After the interchange, US 175 leaves the city limits of Gun Barrel City, and within a mile, it enters the city limits of Eustace. Soon afterward, the highway narrows to an undivided four-lane road with a left-turn lane. US 175 approaches its first signal light at the intersection of Farm to Market Road 316, which comes into Eustace from the south; the intersection is the beginning of a brief overlap of the two roads near the center of town. FM 316's overlap concludes after four short blocks by turning left at another signal-lighted intersection to go north out of Eustace. US 175 continues out of Eustace and goes on another mile or so before becoming divided once again with four lanes. Once out of Eustace, US 175's speed limit goes up to, the highest maximum speed of any segment of the highway.
US 175 continues southeast for several more miles, then it passes a state-maintained roadside picnic area, the only one on the whole highway. An intersection with Ranch to Market Road 2329 comes up right afterward, then within a mile, US 175 enters the city limits of Athens. A few more miles later, the divided roadway narrows again, to an undivided four-lane road with a left-turn lane. After another mile, US 175 intersects Loop 7; it begins bypassing Athens by turning left and overlapping the loop. At this same intersection, the third of US 175's four business routes goes into Athens, along a previous routing of US 175. The portion of the route carrying US 175, SH 31, and Loop 7 is a four-lane highway with a left turn lane. On the north side of Athens, the highway intersects State Highway 19 with a grade-separated exit; the south-bound SH 19 bypasses Athens by merging with US 175, SH 31, and Loop 7 here while north-bound SH 19 turns left to go away from Athens, and a business route of SH 19 begins here to go south into the main part of town.
The four routes continue around Athens eastward past an at-grade intersection with Farm to Market Road 1616. SH 31 turns away from the four-route overlap at the next exit; it leaves by turning left toward Tyler, while a business route of SH 31 turns right at the exit to go into Athens. US 175, SH 19, and Loop 7 continue their overlap around to the east edge of Athens, past a grade-separated exit of Farm to Market Road 2495. This road connects to Lake Athens and the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center. A short distance later, US 175 turns away from SH 19 and Loop 7 at the next exit; US 175 goes left to return to its southeastward path, and the east end of Business US 175 is also found at this exit by turning right from the exit intersection.
The roadway US 175 takes after leaving the Loop and the southeast side of Athens is once again a divided four-lane. After a few miles, US 175 intersects Farm to Market Road 804 in the community of Baxter. The divided four-lane arrangement continues past rural, rolling terrain, then after several miles is an intersection with Loop 60 in the community of Larue. The signage at the at-grade turn to the left also points to an eventual intersection with Farm to Market Road 607. A short distance later is an intersection with Ranch to Market Road 2588, on the south side of Larue. A short distance further is another intersection with Loop 60.
Leaving the vicinity of Larue, and after a few miles, the LaPoynor consolidated school campus can be found on the left side of the highway; it includes a school zone with a speed limit of. For less than a mile along the north side of the highway, a service road can be found along the frontage of the school, which provides a safe connection and access for faculty and students. The service road continues a short distance further west past the school campus until an intersection with a local county road. About a mile past the school campus, at a county road crossing, is the city limits for the town of Poynor. Just before reaching the center of town, a left turn accesses the west end of Business US 175-H, which connects US 175 with Poynor's main crossroad, Farm to Market Road 315. US 175 continues on as a bypass around the center of Poynor, crossing a bridge that spans but does not connect to FM 315. After another half mile, US 175 reaches the east end of Business US 175-H.
At this point, US 175 becomes part of the Texas Forest Trail, one of several posted regional byways across the state. The Trail wanders around to several protected forest areas and scenic spots around eastern Texas. About a mile further, US 175 reaches the city limit border on the east side of Poynor, then it leaves Henderson County around a mile after that.

Anderson County

US 175 enters Anderson County by continuing its divided four-lane arrangement. After a few miles, the four lanes narrow, excluding the dividing median, but including a left-turn lane. Not long afterward, US 175 crosses the city limit line of Frankston. US 175 also goes by the name of Pine Street in Frankston. A few blocks after entering the town, the business district can be seen, with Frankston's downtown area just south of US 175. It is here where the highway intersects State Highway 155, the other major highway that serves the vicinity of Frankston. There is a full signal light at the intersection as well as a left-turn lane on each approach. This intersection marks the end of US 175's segment of the Texas Forest Trail; from here, it turns north to follow SH 155. After SH 155, and over a hill, US 175 leaves the urban portion of Frankston and, for the first time along the road, the four-lane section narrows to two lanes.
The east city limits of Frankston is crossed in less than two more miles. An assortment of hills, climbing lanes, and gentle curves are encountered on the highway. At the top of a hill east of Frankston is an intersection with Farm to Market Road 1892; this road connects to the south end of Lake Palestine near its dam. After a gradual downward slope and at the bottom of a hill, the bridge crossing of the Neches River is reached; this is the point where US 175 leaves Anderson County.