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RoadEyePie · 08-20-2019, 11:11 AM

Traveling west at the end of December so weather could be a factor. Route options are basically I-40 through Memphis, Amarillo and Albuquerque or I-20 through Jackson, Dallas and El Paso. Strangely enough Google maps show only 1 hour difference in the two routes. Southern most route takes me through Dallas. How bad is that? Which route is better with regards to roads, traffic, etc.?

rk911 · 08-20-2019, 01:40 PM

i-40 means you’ll have to choose going thru Flagstaff to I-17 south or take I-25 south from Albuquerque. Flagstaff sits at 7000’ and winter storms can close U-40. haven’t been on I-40 east of OK City in a number of years but west of there I-40 is generally not a bad road but it and I-17 were bad in and around OK City Nd Flagstaff back in 2018. I-17 southbound from I-40 was especially bad until the Sedona/Verde Valley area.

I-20/I-10 can have wx issues as well but, IMO, not nearly on the scale or duration of I-40. haven’t been thru Dallas in years but I-20 between Jackson and Shreveport was the worst section of interstate i’ve been on in a long time.

why not run I-40/I-30/I-20 thru Big D to I-10? I-10 thru TX is generally good

RoadEyePie · 08-20-2019, 08:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rk911

i-40 means you’ll have to choose going thru Flagstaff to I-17 south or take I-25 south from Albuquerque. Flagstaff sits at 7000’ and winter storms can close U-40. haven’t been on I-40 east of OK City in a number of years but west of there I-40 is generally not a bad road but it and I-17 were bad in and around OK City Nd Flagstaff back in 2018. I-17 southbound from I-40 was especially bad until the Sedona/Verde Valley area.

I-20/I-10 can have wx issues as well but, IMO, not nearly on the scale or duration of I-40. haven’t been thru Dallas in years but I-20 between Jackson and Shreveport was the worst section of interstate i’ve been on in a long time.

why not run I-40/I-30/I-20 thru Big D to I-10? I-10 thru TX is generally good

I can't remember if I've ever driven through Dallas....if I have it's been 40 yrs or more ago. I'm wondering if I should do anything that I can to avoid the area altogether.

rk911 · 08-20-2019, 09:27 PM

i-30 to i-635 will take you around the south sides of dallas and fort worth before it intersects with i-20. and i completely forgot that we came through the metroplex in the spring of 2018 (don't get old). we left wichita falls, tx heading SE to florida. we came through on a sunday on US 287 NW of ft worth to i-820/i-20. it was busy but traffic was moving at or above the legal limit. there was a parallel toll road which we did not use. i like to hit the major cities on a weekend and by-passes around the city are usually a better choice traffic wise than going thru city centers.

another option from virginia would be to get down to i-10 asap. i-10 thru florida and alabama is fine. louisina is a different story. baton rouge, lafayette, lake charles, houston and san antonio are the major cities. no by-pass around baton rouge or lafayette but there are around the other three (2 around san antonio). i will warn you that I-10 between I-12 and the texas border in louisiana is pretty rough. the bypass around lake charles (i-210) is the better choice as i-10 has a steep, old bridge.

me? i'd get down to i-10 as soon as i could. that will give you the best shot at decent weather. that's what we do when we head to mesa, az from chicago in winter.

Arch Hoagland · 08-20-2019, 09:46 PM

I've run both routes and I'd go for the southern route.

The last time we went through Dallas, about four years ago, we were on I 20 and it was Sunday morning about 9am. No traffic at all! I was a happy camper.

I 10 is good and not much chance of snow as compared to I 40.

F4Gary · 08-20-2019, 09:53 PM

DFW in Dec can be in the 50's and sunny or it can be 30 and freezing rain/sleet/ice.
I'd get down to I-10 and take that across to where ever Pheniox is.

hawkeye1995 · 08-20-2019, 10:20 PM

I would not travel through DFW area on I-30 for any reason! That route goes right through the center of Dallas and as some really wild lane changes. Not so bad in Fort Worth. when I travel that way I always use I-635 to I-20. Traffic can be a problem during rush hours, but any other time it is real easy. From there it easy driving until you get to El Paso, then you have an option to by-bass using Hwy 375. I have not used this bypass, have had others say it is a good ride. I have always driven straight through, but then that is early in the morning or late at night. I'm sure rush hour would be very busy. After that there is Tucson to deal with, but I did not have any problems, again, this was after the rush hour. Now, Phoenix can get real busy on I-10 and I-17. But did not have to put up with the wild intersection like in Dallas! Did not have any real big problem climbing the mountains, I think near the NM/AZ border, their where some steep hills/mountains, but did not really have a big problem. I was towing a toad, and the Workhorse 8.1 did just fine.

I just used the rest areas along the way to get some sleep. There are plenty of rest stops and places to get fuel. I like using the Flying J truck stops because they had RV fuel lanes for gas. A little higher on gas, but convenient. The Flying J in Lordsburg, NM even has RV parking spots.

From Dallas to Phoenix, the only bad roads that I can remember was around the Odessa to Pecos, Tx, lots of oil field trucks tend to damage the road, but, it was not extremely bad. From that point on, it was smooth sailing.

One thing to keep in mind, this trip was in Oct 2016. In December, it is very possible to get ice storms, but they do seems to happen in January more than any month.

I have traveled I-40 to California in the month of December, and you can hit some very bad weather in the mountains. The key is to watch the weather and plan for some deviations. Just be prepared. I have seen I-20 have to be closed when heavy snow and ice storm roll in, Texas is not equipped to deal with extreme weather.

Good luck on your trip and enjoy, Things are what they are at that moment in time.

bigchick · 08-21-2019, 06:48 AM

who can say what the weather would be at any time in december? yes, i-40 could have rain, snow, ice or be dry, sunny, and clear. we live north of phoenix up in the mountains and in general the weather in december is clear. it might freeze at night but it will still hit the 50's during the day. the snow and stuff comes jan to march. but that is a generalization. obviously pay attention to the weather forecasts.

we rarely use i-17 but that is due to where we live. there is nothing wrong with it. but the shortest route from i-40 to phoenix is to get off i-40 on az77 at holbrook to az277 to az 377 terminating at heber. then az 260 to payson and then south on az77 to mesa. (i may have the az77, az277, az377 transposed).

regarding the drop in elevation from flagstaff to phoenix. flagstaff and i-40 is above 7,000 feet. phoenix is about 1,300 feet. what ever route you take you are going to have some downgrades. none of them are severe. the max is 6% for a few miles.

twogypsies · 08-21-2019, 09:47 AM

You'll have more pleasant stopping places regarding weather, siteseeing and open parks if you drop down to I-10. I would not recommend coming across I-40 in December.

Busskipper · 08-22-2019, 09:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RoadEyePie

I can't remember if I've ever driven through Dallas....if I have it's been 40 yrs or more ago. I'm wondering if I should do anything that I can to avoid the area altogether.

Plan for both - I-20 and 40 - if you need to plan.

Also, I always avoid big cities if possible - Dallas is a BIG CITY - look at coming into Texarkana and across through Paris - we’ve done it a few times and it worked well for us. From there you can go we’re ever works for you - Texas is big and takes a while to get across.

Weather is weather - changing all the time - best thing to do is plan for easy/short and be ready to go around or wait it out. We’ve done I-70/RT36 I the middle of winter with no issue and in the snow .....so just do what you are comfortable with - no wrong choices.

Best of Luck,