Travel News

Everything you need to know about Thanksgiving travel in Dallas

If you're on the move on the Thanksgiving holiday.

Photo courtesy of Fort Worth YMCA

Thanksgiving Day is practically here, and Dallas travelers need logistic information on when to move, where, and how.

To offer some perspective, Google compiled a traffic report to pinpoint the best and worst times to leave for a Thanksgiving road trip. That includes the best and worst days and times to get on the road in Dallas.

This calls for a bulleted list (the first of many). According to Google:

Best day to leave: Thanksgiving day, 6 am
Worst day to leave: Wednesday, 3 pm
Best day to return: Sunday, 6 am
Worst day to return: Friday, 3 pm

DART holiday schedule
On Thanksgiving, Dallas Area Rapid Transit buses and light rail trains will operate on a Sunday schedule. On Friday November 23, they'll operate on a Saturday schedule.

The Trinity Railway Express (TRE) will not operate Thanksgiving Day, and will observe Saturday service hours on Friday.

On DART and TRE, regular scheduled transit service will resume Saturday November 24.

In Fort Worth, Trinity Metro customer service locations will be closed, and Trinity Metro bus and Access paratransit services will operate on Sunday schedules.

DART Paratransit will operate on a holiday schedule Thanksgiving Day and the day after. The Paratransit Scheduling Center will be closed both days.

DART's customer information center will be closed Thanksgiving Day and open Friday 8 am-5 pm.

Lyft free rides
In 2017, Lyft saw a 35 percent increase in late-night rides on the night before Thanksgiving. They say the night is known as "Blackout Wednesday" because it is one of the heaviest drinking days of the year. Who knew?

With AAA predicting the highest volume of Thanksgiving travelers in a dozen years, including 4.1 million Texans traveling 50 miles or more, Lyft is stepping in to help Dallas-Fort Worth residents by providing $50,000 in free rides across the state.

These free rides are part of Lyft’s commitment to reduce drinking and driving through its Ride Smart TX program. Texans can claim their free Lyft ride (up to $10 discount) by applying RIDESMARTTHANKS in the Lyft app (offer valid November 21 through November 23 at 2 am).

New Love Field parking lot
Dallas Love Field has opened a new cell phone lot for drivers waiting to pick up arriving passengers.

The new lot is accessible from the airport entrance at Mockingbird Lane and Herb Kelleher Way. The lot is located just east of Herb Kelleher Way between it and Aubrey Avenue. Drivers can reach the lot from Aubrey Avenue by following the cell phone lot signage.

Those wishing to greet passengers in the terminal may park at lower-cost hourly rates in any of the three parking garages or valet. The first 30 minutes are free in Garages A, B, and C. Parking rates are listed at dallas-lovefield.com. With the addition of the cell phone lot, Express Pickup in Garage A will close on December 3.

The cell phone lot is exclusively for those picking up passengers on the upper level roadway. Ground transportation vehicles such as taxis, transportation network companies, and limos are not permitted to stage in the cell phone lot.

Turkey Trot warnings
A special event permit has been issued for the Dallas YMCA Turkey Trot for Thanksgiving Day at 9 am. Projected attendance is 40,000 people. Road closures related to this special event will impact traffic around Dallas City Hall and Downtown Dallas.

The following streets will be closed to traffic for event staging on Wednesday, November 21:

Young Street – All lanes closed between Saint Paul Street and Park Avenue on Wednesday from 6 p.m. until Thursday at 5 p.m.
The streets listed below will be intermittently closed to traffic on Thanksgiving Day from 8 a.m. until noon, while participants pass through. Most streets will close 15 minutes ahead of participants and streets will be reopened as the last participant passes through.

Young Street – All lanes closed between Griffin Street and Harwood Street on Thursday from 4 am-1 pm
Young/Canton Street – All lanes closed from Akard Street to Hall Street
Hall Street – All lanes closed from Canton Street to Main Street
Main Street – All lanes closed from Hall Street to Houston Street
Market Street – All lanes closed from Main Street to Young Street
Houston Street – All lanes closed from Main Street to Reunion Boulevard
Reunion Boulevard West – All westbound lanes closed to Hotel Drive
Hyatt Regency Dallas Hotel access available at Reunion Boulevard East
Hotel Street – All northbound lanes closed from Reunion Boulevard to Sports Street
Dedicated lane available for Hyatt Regency Dallas Hotel access
Reunion Boulevard – All eastbound lanes closed from Hotel Drive to Sports Street
Sports Street – All northbound lanes closed from Reunion Boulevard to North Drive
Hyatt Regency Dallas Hotel access provided by DPD Officer
North Drive – All lanes closed from Sports Street to Hotel Street
Hotel Street – All lanes closed from Memorial Drive to Reunion Boulevard East
Houston Street – All southbound lanes closed from Reunion Boulevard East
Marsalis Avenue/Houston Street Viaduct – All lanes closed from Houston Street to Colorado Boulevard
Colorado Boulevard – All lanes closed from North Zang to North Marsalis Avenue
Blaylock Drive – All lanes closed from Colorado Boulevard to East 5th Street
East 5th Street – All lanes closed from Blaylock Drive to Beckley Avenue
Beckley Avenue – All lanes closed from East 5th Street to Zang Boulevard
Zang Boulevard – All northeast lanes closed from Beckley Avenue to Jefferson Street Viaduct
Jefferson Street Viaduct – All northeast lanes closed from Zang Boulevard to Market Street
Market Street – All northbound lanes closed from Jefferson Street Viaduct to Young Street
Young Street – All lanes closed from Market Street to Marilla Street

Parking at meters will be restricted from Wednesday November 21 at 9 am-Thursday November 22 at 5 pm for event staging along the following streets:

Young Street from Akard Street to Harwood Street
Browder Street/South Ervay Street from Young Street to Marilla Street

Also, meters along the entire route will be hooded beginning Thursday, November 22 at 3 am and will be removed by 2 pm that afternoon.

DART and Turkey Trot
DART Rail will operate three additional Red Line trains and one additional Blue Line train on Thursday morning due to the 2018 Dallas YMCA Turkey Trot:

Additional Red Line trains from Parker Road Station depart at 7:13 am, 7:43 am, and 8:13 am, and arrive at Convention Center Station at 8 am, 8:30 am, and 9 am. These trains operate to all stations between Parker Road and Cedars stations.
An additional Blue Line train from Downtown Rowlett Station departs at 7:22 am and arrives at Convention Center Station at 8:05 am. This train operates to all stations between Downtown Rowlett and Cedars stations.

The race will impact bus service in Downtown Dallas, Deep Ellum, and North Oak Cliff and place several routes on detour Thanksgiving morning beginning at 9 a.m. Routes affected include: 2, 11, 12, 19, 21, 26, 29, 35, 42, 52, 59, 60, 76, 81/82, 110, 111, 161, 164, D-Link (722) and 749. Click here to view specific detour information.

The day after
Based on data compiled from prior holidays, Lyft shares its top 10 Black Friday destinations:

Walmart
Galleria Dallas
NorthPark Center
Target
Parks at Arlington Mall
Stonebriar Mall
Town East Mall
Irving Mall
Best Buy
The Shops at Willow Bend

If you hate crowds, these are your top 10 places to avoid.

Hemp news

Texas cannabis businesses sue state to block ban on smokeable hemp

Photo by CRYSTALWEED cannabis on Unsplash

Texas is cracking down on smokeable hemp.

Texas hemp industry leaders and advocacy groups have sued the state to block new regulations that eliminate natural smokeable hemp products and increase licensing fees.

The Texas Hemp Business Council, Hemp Industry & Farmers of America, and several Texas-based dispensaries and manufacturers filed for a temporary restraining order in state district court in Travis County against the Texas Department of State Health Services and the Texas Health and Human Services Commission on Tuesday, April 6. They argue that the agencies have overstepped their constitutional authority by rewriting the statutory definitions of hemp established by lawmakers in 2019.

“Under current Texas law, hemp is defined by its delta-9 THC concentration of not more than 0.3 percent,” said David Sergi, an attorney for the hemp coalition, in a press release. “These Texas officials and state agencies are clearly attempting to create new law in direct contradiction to what the Texas legislature intended.”

The background
Even though Texas law bans marijuana, lawmakers legalized hemp in 2019. State law defines hemp as containing less than 0.3 percent levels of intoxicating Delta-9 THC.

To get around the law’s Delta-9 THC restrictions, manufacturers started cultivating hemp plants with another type of THC, called THCA, that, when ignited in a joint or smokeable product, can produce a high. Many lawmakers have said this legal loophole has allowed a recreational THC market to appear overnight without direct approval from the state.

Last year, the Texas Legislature voted to ban the products out of fear that these intoxicating products were consistently getting into the hands of children. But, Gov. Greg Abbott vetoed the decision last summer, before asking the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission and DSHS to increase regulations on the industry instead.

The Texas Department of State Health Services released regulations on consumable hemp-derived THC products that went into effect on March 31. These new regulations include child-resistant packaging, a significant increase in licensing fees, new labeling, testing, and bookkeeping requirements. The rules also codify the legal purchasing age to 21, which went into effect last year as an emergency directive.

Why the hemp industry sued
Also under the new rules, laboratories tests now measure the total amount of any THC in a product. If the THC levels exceed the 0.3 percent threshold, even if it’s only activated upon being smoked, the product will be noncompliant under state regulations. As a result, some of the most popular hemp products, like THCA flower and pre-rolled joints, have been banned.

Hemp businesses caught selling noncompliant products face a range of penalties and fines, including license revocation and up to $10,000 in violation fees for each day these products were sold in stores.

“An administrative agency may not substitute its own policy judgment for the outcome produced by the constitutional lawmaking process,” the lawsuit states. “The Texas Constitution vests legislative power in the Legislature, not administrative agencies.”

Retailers cannot sell hemp to out-of-state customers either.

The rules also increase licensing fees for manufacturers of hemp-derived THC from $258 to $10,000 per facility and retail registrations from $155 to $5,000, which industry leaders say will fulfill the ban by forcing businesses to close. The hemp business community’s lawsuit is not challenging the other new regulations, including the age verification or ones they say protect consumers.

“Texas hemp businesses wholeheartedly support those regulations, as they fall within the agency’s authority,” said Sergi. “We are seeking to halt rules that would effectively end the in-state production of hemp and the sale of hemp products — items the Legislature chose not to ban during recent legislative and special sessions.”

What the state says
Concerns about the safety of these high-THC products among youth led lawmakers to attempt to ban hemp-derived THC products outright last year. While the overall ban didn’t succeed, lawmakers successfully banned vape pens containing THC and other hemp-derived intoxicating chemicals.

Data provided from the Texas Poison Center Network confirms a sharp increase in cannabis-related poisoning calls starting in 2019, a year after hemp-derived THC was legalized by the federal government, from 923 to a 10-year high of 2,592 in 2024. Calls climbed to 2,669 last year. The majority of these calls involve suspected poisoning of children under the age of five and teenagers.

Drug policy experts said these numbers seem alarming, but it is natural for poisoning calls to increase when a drug has become legalized, and the data needs additional context before making conclusions from it.

Jennifer Ruffcorn, spokesperson for HHSC, directed questions about the lawsuit and what it means for the new hemp regulations to DSHS.

Lara Anton, spokesperson for DSHS, declined to comment on pending litigation.

What’s next
The hemp industry’s battle to stay alive in Texas started back in 2021 when the state health agency classified any amount of a natural intoxicating hemp compound called delta-8 THC as illegal. The hemp industry sued the state over its ban on delta-8 and the Texas Supreme Court is expected to consider the case this year.

The delta-8 lawsuit will have an impact on the outcome of the most recent lawsuit over the smokeable hemp ban because both lawsuits challenge the authority of a state health agency to make changes to the market without approval from lawmakers or the public.

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This story was originally published by The Texas Tribune and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.

marijuana lawsuit cannabis

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