What is the best way to drive through Amarillo, Tex., going north-to-south?

I didn't know where to put this thread, but, here goes....

What is the best way (with the least 'brain-damage' to drive through Amarillo, Texas when coming south from Dumas, and heading down toward Lubbock?

Loop 335 belts the city, but it is ruined with the presence of so many traffic lights that take FOREVER to get through. I-27 seems to go through the heart of the city, but it seems to have a lot of traffic jams, too.

What's the best way to get through Amarillo, please? It used to be so easy, and all the traffic lights were synchronized so that you never hit a red light -- but a LOT has changed during the years. Thank you!

 

I haven't lived near there in 25 years, but I'd take I-27. Traffic shouldn't be too bad except maybe during morning and afternoon rush hour.

 

You are absolutely right! It is now Nov. 2nd, and my trip down to Texas is over... but here's some interesting things I discovered:

1. You can come right down to the heart of Amarillo on Hwy. 87 (from the north) and not hit more than two or three short stop lights. Mostly you just breeze through the middle of downtown with very little delay. Then you hit I-27 (as you said), and then it's right back up to expressway speeds all the way out of town, and right on down to Lubbock.

2. Once in Lubbock, I simply stayed on I-27 and never had any stops of any kind -- just kept on going south at expressway speeds, really, all the way down to Big Spring. Get through it fairly quickly, and then blast on south toward San Angelo... (eventually getting on down to Sonora on I-10). Now, from Sonora -- you can legally drive 80 miles per hour just about all the way east into Kerrville!

3. SAN ANTONIO! . Without a doubt, San Antonio has the absolute WORST, most horribly screwed-up traffic mess going into the city on I-10 I've ever seen! I've driven in L. A., San Francisco, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, and around in metro areas in Germany. But NOTHING is as bad as trying to get into San Antonio on I-10, and the construction horror extends out to the northwest all the way to Comfort, Texas.

Funny thing: I made this same drive exactly two years ago, and it was really BAD. But today? They've made it even WORSE!

Texas highways are, bar none, the very best in the United States. And now that so many of the autobahns in Germany have turned into truck-congested 'parking-lots', Texas probably has the best roadways in the entire world. Just stay OUT of San Antonio, unless you can hire a helicopter and start your entry into the city from, say, at least fifty miles away.... Driving there is complete madness!

Thanks for your reply.

 

I have no desire to go to Texas.

 

Sounds like a helicopter would be best.