Dallas Central Expressway (US 75) in the 1970s and 1980s

[@gmpny3945]

I love seeing all the old cars. I forgot what a highway looked like that wasn't filled with cookie cutter SUVs.

[@rustyshackleford6637]

Look at all these big ol cars

[@CentralTexasRailJetProductions]

Real Cars, GM A, B, G Bodies, the Trucks, some nice Ford and Mopar alternatives as well. The only exception to this rule is the Corvette, all eight generations of being nothing but simply a beauty on wheels.

[@Susie4Jesus]

I love to see those old cars again

[@henrystowe6217]

They weren't that great. A lot of them were sluggish

[@robcarpenter1225]

Trying to merge onto 75-Central in the 80s involved a lot of praying.

[@sbclaridge]

0:38 turns out it did take (about) two decades from the time of this footage in 1978; the North Central Expressway reconstruction south of I-635 was completed in 1999. The High Five Interchange between I-635 and US-75 was completed in 2005.

[@thelastdon6562]

Yep

[@odie1584]

Construction started in 1993

[@larrygro]

Even a few 50s cars still rolling around at that time.

[@anthonybianchini5144]

Love see all those beautiful Oldsmobiles, 98s, 88s, Cutlass Sumpremes, oh my!

[@jackdaniel4325]

My first car was a ‘71 Cutlass Supreme. Bronze with an off white hardtop. An Olds 350 (not a Chevy or GM) with a 2 barrel carburetor. Good times. 😉👍🏻

[@pheerbeard]

legend has it that those teens at 2:09 and 2:32 are still there to this day changing that tire...

[@telcobilly]

I lived off of the Meadow exit off of Central in '79-'80. 2br apt back then was $185pm. I was just down the street from the first Chili's on the corner of Meadow and Greenville. What a blast from the past!

[@henrywal]

No more Chilli's which was the original

[@TSeeker1]

Me too, in 1987-1989. I loved that area, all the grills, taverns along Greenville - great food and drinks!

[@larryrobbins5795]

Yes, River falls complex on Stone canyon 1980. $185 furnished 1 bedroom. Those were the days .

[@TSeeker1]

@@larryrobbins5795 The best! 👍

[@naksookow]

Wow, at 1:34 that is the famous Scott Pelley who would later be on CBS News. I knew it right when he started talking. The transcript has his name misspelled as he clearly says his name is Scott Pelley when the segment concludes. This is cool. You don’t see network level TV personalities in their old roles very often.

[@tomloft2000]

He was at channel 4, which then was the CBS affiliate.It's now a Fox channel.

[@lisasdfwhightechworld9946]

Bill O'Reilly did time in Dallas also.

[@kylemlm]

I remember getting stuck 4 hours on 75 while under the new expansion in the late 80s. Bunch of us played hacky sack until they removed center gaurd rail.

[@Cityplace2711]

Almost unrecognizable from the post-1992 NCX. Great footage!

[@stephendavidbailey2743]

In the 1970's rode up and down Central daily on a motorcycle. I sure wouldn't do that now.

[@telcobilly]

I did too starting in '79 on a '78 XT500. I had a ton of close calls then. Later, I had a Suzuki GS 750 so keeping up and passing traffic back then was easy. I'd be a little nervous now to ride on Central these days.

[@stephendavidbailey2743]

@@telcobilly I was on a Honda CB175 with 15 ground shaking horsepower. Rode it to Austin regularly too.

[@larryhorse83]

75 is backed up from McKinney to Dallas during rush hour now.

[@405TubRefinishing]

I lived on Fitzhugh right by the 75 and can confirm this lol

[@GSM92]

Why

[@405TubRefinishing]

@@GSM92 All of the Californians that escaped to infect Texas with their liberal poison. They are jamming it all up.

[@lucifermorningstar411]

@@GSM92 population boom.

[@larrysutton925]

And it's now like 5 lanes wide and is still congested! Another reason I moved out to the country in east Texas a couple of years ago.

[@zone47]

The entire time I lived in Plano 1980-1993 there was consistent construction on I75 and that didn't include the California style sweeping off and on ramps or the Bush tollway project. One big improvement was lengthening of the sudden on and off ramps. and redesigning the two way service roads.

[@bajamike9276]

OMG yea, I remember those murder/suicide ramps!!!

[@davestewart2067]

It should be I-45, all way north to Big Cabin.

[@GeekBoyMN]

I remember Central in the 80s with those short on ramps. I was living in Houston by the time it was rebuilt in the 90s. It was much better when I moved back in 2008 but ended up leaving Texas a few years later and I hear it's backed up a lot now.

[@kyergilreath2130]

It’s terrible…

[@OJ_36]

You know those people who say they were "born in the wrong generation" and "wish they could live back in the 80's or 90's"? Well, I'm not really one of those people in the slightest sense of the word, but if someone asked me if I wanted to visit the 70's, 80's, and 90's each for a week respectively (with a car, ability to legally drive, and bring back anything from then with me back to now) I'd take that up in a heartbeat. I'd love to drive down the old freeways with colourful and unique traffic, visit the Twin Towers and see the stunning views from the top, maybe even buy a 32x and a copy of Knuckles Chaotix before they both became expensive and rare. If only...

[@projectw.a.a.p.f.t.a.d7762]

I still remember those times I'm the 80s. Slot of older cars didn't age well and you'd here mufflers dragging every so often.

[@vidpie]

There used to be a lot of muffler and transmission shops that I never think about now.

[@mbrant4973]

Ahh the days of a stoplight at the entrance ramps! There sure were a LOT of pintos then, I guess most of them just blew up.

[@elmobolan4274]

Yeah, then u had to floor it and say ur prayers as u merged into traffic....

[@Rockstopmotion]

Chicago still has a few

[@rocknroller77]

They're all over here in Southern California. Of course 90% of "drivers," never pay attention to them and do whatever the hell they want to do anyway

[@mariosanchez-sj9yv]

I don't see any chevy novas

[@PlayWaves1]

Says the guy with an MGB? You should be used to unreliable cars.

[@jazxoxo6654]

Please post more of this. Thank you

[@Yandelvillegas]

It’s not like what 😮 u expect bro like please shut the f 🆙 up bro 😎

[@rjl9707]

Almost all, 90%+ USA made cars... few BMWs, Mercedes, etc. Good days for sure..!

[@Joe-Exit]

I remember the construction started around 93 or 94 from downtown up to Walnut Hill Lane exit. Central Expy was rebuilt from Walnut Hill through Plano by then.

[@bravekumquat3014]

That was awesome! Thanks for the walk down memory lane!

[@jonathanlindsey858]

75 flowed better then than it does now...

[@frankschultz4170]

I remember when the tore up the Houston & Texas Central Railroad to build this.

[@MFXdump]

If they did, then it was rebuilt east of the freeway. The Dart rail was built on it in 1995 when Southern Pacific stopped running through freights on it after a large washout occurred south of Lake Lavon in 1992. An army corp of engineers screw up at the dam. I have heard that the North Dallas Tollway was built on an old cotton belt line that went south from Addison to Dallas. You can easily see that one on satellite maps. A short spur of it still exists from just north of Beltline Road southward maybe a mile and a half.

[@frankschultz4170]

​@@MFXdump OK - the H&TC was merged into the T&NO in 1934 and I have a 1936 map of Dallas showing it as such. The line was abandoned from Ellsworth Ave. (just south of Mockingbird Ln.) to downtown and US 75 a/k/a Central Expressway which was so named in honor of the H&TC which was built on the grade. At the time of the construction, we lived next to the SMU campus on the east side and I remember seeing the excavations for the overpasses. As an aside, there was a mechanical interlocking tower which controlled the crossing of the H&TC and M-K-T. Many years later, we lived on Park Lane between Midway and Inwood, and I would ride my bicycle over to Preston Center, crossing the Cotton Belt track. There was a concrete passenger platform on the east side of the line just south of Northwest Highway and I remember seeing a passenger train with a steam locomotive stopped at it. Years after the tollway was built, the track remained in Lovers Lane for quite some time. And yes, the toll road is built on the Cotton Belt grade to just south of 635. As another aside, I had a little part-time job with a friend of mine in the ‘70s on a derailment crew with a 100-ton Holmes high-rail wrecker. We had a job in Addison picking-up and rerailing some box cars that had gone on the ground on a curve on what remained of the Cotton Belt line. The things we do when we are (kinda) young and stupid… As yet another aside, before DUT was built in 1916, the H&TC had a depot just east of downtown (it was still there into at least the '60s - maybe ‘70s). There is or was a brick commercial building whose west wall was curved to accommodate the line going into the east-west yard and depot. As I seldom get to Dallas these days, I don’t know what remains or how things have changed. In the '60s, I was a Towerman at DUTCo and worked both the North and the South towers (ran some of the last passenger trains into and out of Dallas). The track board in the North Tower had the SL-SWofT (Cotton Belt) terminal lead tracks and occupancy lights painted out. An old Towerman told me that the Cotton Belt trains had to come in fast over the double-slips or the long-wheelbase 4-8-4 locomotives would derail if the engineers were overly-cautious and came in too slow. I have some Cotton Belt passenger ticket stubs someplace salvaged from the trash. There: More than you ever wanted to know… By the way, there is an excellent channel devoted to regional railroad historical photos and videos: www.youtube.com/@timetable5245 I have more comments there.

[@MFXdump]

@@frankschultz4170 Sure. Really nice.

[@Mark-uv6sm]

Thanks for the history and information,My father had told me some of what you printed but over time I've forgotten, Thanks,My memory has been refreshed

[@franciscodanconia4324]

I spent the first part of my life living in Lucas. Back when that section of 75 was still rural highway.

[@henrystowe6217]

Its amazing how slow traffic was moving back then even when the road wss not at capacity. 55 mph speed limit was no good.

[@PlayWaves1]

People commonly drove 5-10 over the speed limit just like they do now. There was less traffic back then so commute times would be shorter then they are now.

[@owenwexler7214]

"Central Expressway has some of the worst traffic in the US" 495, 395, and 295 in DC: "Am I a joke to you?"

[@broondjongen]

Wow, how far Dallas’ skyline has grown

[@TWTexasA1]

Did you see the Ford Pinto….everyone was staying clear of it 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@DUNEATV]

I’m here to see the cars…❤

[@MF_ZOOM214]

If you don’t mind me asking, where I can view these old news archives?

[@dand.5376]

texashistory.unt.edu/ Play around with the search functions. If you search for "Central Expressway" a lot of news and videos come up. It's amazing how many news stories there were about it.

[@MF_ZOOM214]

@@dand.5376 thanks for the tip!

[@jasonclendennen9731]

1980rs camaro with 2 tone paint. I, had one in 86 and drove it to the gay bars in oaklawn LOL!! The village station to be exact!!

[@mrsamsung8184]

I came for the cars...

[@MrMaddox57]

whole different experience then, state of affairs, etc.

[@watchinginaz]

How the hell did this end up in my feed? I have never even been to Dallas

[@ChatGPT1111]

I don't know. I never even watched Dallas 😂

[@Westhamsterdam]

Me too!

[@bconover55]

The speed limit was 55 or 60 back then...lol Was there road rage back in those days ?

[@zooologist]

They had relative number back then with the rush hour frequency. Today a whole central is needed just for the three wheelers and to add to it they gave it a go go look last winter. If these numbers keep coming up you will need a commute rail tracker and a low dive steeper cliff just to get to the downtown.

[@roadtrip2943]

I drove that stretch during the high 5s being built

[@sarayoung9395]

Why is there almost no room to accelerate or merge in the merging lane?? Is it still like that today?

[@dand.5376]

They fixed that problem when they widened it in the 1990s.

[@jaylucien669]

Think that's bad, they used to have stoplights on those on ramps. Also, Dallas drivers have never grasped the concept of the "zipper merge." There're always too many scaredy-cats, that just don't understand that accelerating to get on the freeway is both far safer and more practical than slowing down and/or breaking. We all learn this in Drivers Ed but for whatever reasons, that just doesn't seem to compute here with Dallas drivers.

[@sarayoung9395]

@@jaylucien669 They showed the stoplights in the video, yeah that's quite bad compared to Minnesota ramps, you get plenty of room to accelerate even with the ramps that have stoplights, nothing like this video shows.

[@telcobilly]

I rremember those short onramps. It was the big joke in Dallas back then. Try merging with a '65 Chevy farm truck with a straight 6 and 3 on the tree like I had..At least there wasn't nearly as much road rage in the 70s/80s...

[@robertfarrar6212]

@@telcobilly I moved to Dallas Summer '84 from Atlanta, Tx. (south of Texarkana). Dallas was the first big city I'd driven in; '56 Chevy, straight 6, three on the tree. I was mortified...I learned real quick..go! Especially on-ramps. I'll never forget merging I-30 to LBJ that day!

[@cloudtaker633]

It's sad to think that a lot of these cars seen in this video are just rotting away in a barn somewhere now

[@jrussellcase]

So funny watching this. 2 things always come true: 1: by the time they come up with a good "plan", that plan is 20 years out of date by the time the changes are implemented. 2: they always take away the things that actually work, I.E. those two ladies who took the Lovers Lane ramp. Anyone remember the left exit off 30 for Industrial/Riverfront? Best way to get to Sterrett when you had jury duty. Now it's gone, and they force you to jump thru hoops to get there. 🙄

[@BKCC420]

Even back in 1970s rush hour traffic was bumper to bumper…hmm, like now

[@rayjames6096]

I drove that road on a few of those days one being the Wednesday in 1985, it was the 17th not the 16th of July, I had a crash that day.😭

[@juniorondeck3760]

0:15 it’s still bumper to bumper in 2024😭

[@cobaltmidnightoilamp6748]

My brother's bestie was killed in a DUI crash the night before on 2/13/1986(Thu). He rode with the drunk driver who fled the scene.☹️🥺

[@Joe-Exit]

I remember those terrible short on ramps on Central Expy. It was 3 lanes on each side until you got past Mockingbird Ln. Then it went to 2 lanes on each side. It sucked.

[@trevorjameson3213]

Ah yes, I remember that well! I was driving up and down Central every day for work from '78-'89. It was absolutely horrible! And now it's still horrible but at least it looks really nice. Lol

[@clipmania42]

isnt there a song or something that has been repeated over and over again where ive heard the first few sentences????????

[@dtx817]

Happy birthday 🎂

[@swysocki3920]

It was a nightmare driving 75 during the 70s and 80s. This video showed mostly south of the city. Going north, it was two lanes either side. Awful! LOL When I was little, 75 didn't go any farther than Forest Lane.

[@KevinRichards-my5oj]

Back in the day when most of the semis you saw on North American roads were cabovers.

[@TheDylanJoyce]

2:03 I need that version of happy birthday now!!! help me somebody!

[@daveassanowicz186]

Car Dependency is a Hell of a drug

[@davestewart2067]

Better than being shoved into an archology by a far left government

[@UnitedStatesOfCoffee]

Need some of this for San Antonio freeways

[@davestewart2067]

Seen the “1604” loop lately? They’re getting some, not enough finally. 1604 should have been upgraded to an Interstate loop years ago.

[@mariosanchez-sj9yv]

Chicago ben unde construction since 1850 we need to keep busy walsh construction and Kenny with kickbacks

[@FoOtFoOt542]

Pretty sure I saw my mom in her blue Ford Falcon on her way to work at Northpark Mall.

[@bobwallace9814]

I looked at the 80's to see if I saw myself.

[@toreall101]

Sad they didn’t follow through with the transit system… maybe there wouldn’t be so much traffic till this day

[@henrystowe6217]

Doubtful.

[@henrystowe6217]

We like our cars.

[@toreall101]

@@henrystowe6217 perhaps because we’ve had no choice for over a century so we can’t conceptualize a life without it.

[@daveassanowicz186]

​@@henrystowe6217fukk cars

[@trevorjameson3213]

Nobody wants to ride public transportation with all the nasty bums and thugs. That's why everyone drives instead.

[@truthtransistorradio6716]

At least it looks a lot nicer now

[@TWTexasA1]

And they thought that was crowded….not even close.

[@robs2333]

When I was a teenager I met a woman who remembered the day Central Expressway opened, and it was obsolete that day.

[@trevorjameson3213]

My Dad used to ride his scooter from north Dallas to south Dallas on Central Expressway back in '55 or so. He said there was very little traffic on it back then, and the land was all farmland north of Lovers Lane. So Dallas ended at that point, just past University Park, and after that it was nothing but crops and fields.

[@brandonlong7866]

75 being in the top 10 worst freeways back then is funny. Over 40 years later, it's still trash along with 635, 30, and the part of 45 in central Dallas. It's strange to see 75 all above ground along side with the feeder roads.

[@producer.james1]

3:13 first generation Mazda RX7 :))

[@mjgtjhfyg6299]

US 75 in Dallas Texas

[@karlhungus5554]

Thankfully, Dallas resolved all their issues with roads and traffic. 😐

[@trevorjameson3213]

Lol.. yeah. But hey at least the freeways are mostly modern and new now.

[@karlhungus5554]

@@trevorjameson3213 True. I'm sure they're better than many other places. I'm no longer in Dallas, but when I first moved there years ago, they were working on I-75. When I left 11 years later, they were still working on it. It seems they were perpetually working on many roads. By the time they got from one end to the other, it was time to turn around and start working back in the opposite direction. A lot of infrastructure is falling apart in some other states I've visited.

[@SteveWhiteDallas]

Notice all the foreign cars? That's right. You don't. This is how it should still be today. American cars on American freeways.

[@electroncraz91]

Those roads with the black oil stripe, don't see that much today! Much more dangerous to motorcycles back then.

[@BigSCTVfan]

Where's the tornado?

[@seanm3691]

This is funny to see 😅😆😆😆

[@efrain926]

i see they were cutting each off back then too.

[@bb-gc2tx]

think i saw jr ewing 🤣

[@henrystowe6217]

Lol

[@cobaltmidnightoilamp6748]

@bb-gc2tx, it sounds VERY SCARY to be getting followed by him, regardless of whether it's day or most nerve-wracking, night time.🚘😨🤠 J.R. Ewing would highly likely follow you on the road, so in such a case, you're TEXAS-SIZED EFFED! 😮

[@ronaldzent6321]

What I think is maybe more needed is better mass transit infrastructures, no matter how many freeways you build, you will still have big traffic jams.probably too late now for most major urban areas in the US

[@chachopaisdead]

1:20 Tootsie!

[@vidpie]

"Ramp metered when flashing" -- So it wasn't just Houston freeways that had this

[@kimberlyvinson9047]

35 took that title

[@josedro]

2:08 🤣😂🤣😂

[@josels1292]

Looks like Peter griffin got a flat tire.

[@williamP1972]

It is a toll road now. Only wealthy people live in north dallas now

[@jto420]

Dallas is bunk 🤘🏼

[@ronaldzent6321]

Looks more like LA greater area traffic

[@ChatGPT1111]

Except L.A. had twice as many lanes by then. Dallas could be a suburb of L.A. 😂

[@KingEric-nr8gv]

2:56

[@VahidMusictx]

Dallas is a shithole now. Glad I live in Fort Worth.

[@MortyGreer]

No one tailgating

[@wcsii]

Slabs everywhere….

[@thecandyman9308]

@2:55 look at how surreal that shot is. ever wonder why boomers are so absurd? look at that. that was "reality".

[@dand.5376]

Curious exactly what you mean by this. I'm not a boomer. I'm Gen X. But I remember this reality.

[@aureissimus]

Dallas is so prissy: "expressway" indeed. Just call it a freeway, like the peasant folk in the rest of the South and West.

[@johnd8167]

I read somewhere that "expressway" was an early term for what most now call and label as "freeway"s. The original part of Central pre-dates the other big highways in the area. If Central had come along later, like most of the rest of the big highways, it probably would have had a "freeway" name.

[@JerryCalvert-x9u]

Wow, that Texas accent. Haven't heard that since I was a kid. Now it's just some dumb Spanish crap.

[@reallybadaim118]

2:09 Gen Z? hahahahahaha

[@robs5688]

The 'Happy Birthday' rendition to a highway is typical lamestream media cringe.

[@SteveXNYC]

Before this immigrants got to USA

[@danmcpherson8158]

Back when people knew how to drive and didn’t just hang out in the center lane at 45

[@FredFukkinBear]

Big hoop earrings, giant curly hair, big round sunglasses, looong collars, yup... this was the 70's for sure. I lived really close to the 635 and 75 mixmaster and went to the Gemini Drivein movie theater a LOT. Had a whole lot of fun there as a young adult back in the late 70's and early 80's. I was 17 and had my own apartment. I was growing weed in the creek behind my apartment.

[@stephendavidbailey2743]

Me too, except the greenery.

[@jackdaniel4325]

Good story and the greenery part too. 👍🏻