Farm to Market Road 1171

Infobox TX State Highway
type=Farm
route=1171
length_mi=16.45Texas Department of Transportation, [http://www.dot.state.tx.us/tpp/hwy/fm1000/fm1171.htm] ] Texas Department of Transportation, [http://www.dot.state.tx.us/tpp/hwy/ur/ur1171.htm] ]
length_km=26.47
formed=1949
dir1=East
dir2=West
from=
junction=
to=
previous_type=Farm
previous_route=1170
next_type=Farm
next_route=1172

Farm to Market Road 1171 or FM 1171 is the highway number applied to both the current stretch of road that actually bears that designation, and its former, more widely-used companion, Urban Road 1171. As part of a modernization and budgetary process in the late 1990s, the Texas Department of Transportation, or "TxDOT" began reclassifying certain former Farm to Market roads as Urban Roads in areas that had developed from farm land into primarily urban and suburban cities. By doing so, TxDOT could budget and maintain the roads separately from each other, without drawing resources away from rural areas that continued to need upkeep and expansion.

Urban Road 1171 is the proper designation for the segment of highway that extends from IH-35E westward to US 377. This six-lane highway serves traffic from Lewisville and Flower Mound and was the original highway linking the nearby farms to what was then U.S. Highway 77. Bearing little resemblance to a highway, UR 1171 is more akin to a parkway or major collector street.

Locally UR1171 is known as Main Street in Lewisville and Cross Timbers Road in Flower Mound.

Farm to Market Road 1171 encompasses what remains of the original designation, and extends from the end of UR 1171 at US 377 westward to IH-35W. Plans call for this segment to be widened as well, but for the moment it retains both its rural designation and surroundings. This two-lane winding highway services the western portions of Flower Mound and is an often-congested route for motorists traveling to Texas Motor Speedway.

Originally FM 1171 extended eastward from IH-35E to the original alignment of State Highway 121 (now Business 121); however, the eastern portion was removed from the highway system at the City of Lewisville's request in 2003.

References