The colorful state of Texas outline on the Interstate 20 median in far southwest Dallas has become such a popular attraction for photos that vehicles have carved a dirt pathway into the grassy area between Mountain Creek Parkway and Spur 408.
Stopping with her daughter for pictures there Friday, visitor Haukesia Satchell said the pathway from eastbound I-20 was inviting.
"I see that they put that little driveway coming from the highway, where it's got that little trail where you can just pull right on in, so I think that's kind of neat," said Satchell.
She was part of a steady stream of visitors on the sunny Friday.
Sethlina Amakye stopped with two out-of-town friends for pictures in front of the iconic red, white and blue Texas-shaped display.
"I come here all the time and it's always a mass amount of people here. And getting off the highway can be a little funny. So, I think there should be a parking lot here. And people should be able to take a picture," said Amakye. "I've been here about 10 years and I don't think there's ever been a time I've passed by without people here."
The display was built at least a decade ago as a Boy Scouts project, according to Tony Hartzel with the Texas Department of Transportation.
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"Looking back at that now and seeing how it's evolved, we wouldn't encourage that and we wouldn't do the same thing again," Hartzel said. "It's just really not a safe place to stop and take pictures."
The dirt path off the freeway was carved by drivers ignoring "Keep Off Median" signs on the shoulder.
"Really? I didn't even see the sign," driver Haukesia Satchell said. "They should make this a tourist attraction, because it's a beautiful sight, especially with all the greenery in the background."
Other drivers visiting Friday agreed there appears to be plenty of room for a proper rest area and parking lot on the wide median site.
"They can easily build like an exit right here that would allow the traffic to come and go," said visitor Jennifer Windmeyer, who stopped to take pictures with her parents and their visiting exchange student from Tiawan.
"I wanted him to be able to experience it and have his picture taken here in Texas," Windmeyer said.
Most challenging for visitors with the current arrangement is getting back on the interstate from the bumpy median shoulder. An 18-wheeler honked at Haukesia Satchell as she and her daughter merged into the fast freeway traffic.
Driver Sethlina Amakye said she has been honked at before, too, on past visits to the site.
"I can see why that would be a problem," said Amakye.
Hartzel said TxDOT does not build rest areas in medians with center lane access because of safety concerns.
"It goes against driver expectations where you have to pull off from the fast lane, to get into a rest area," Hartzel said. "If you're having to account for people merging back in from the left side, that creates a different safety challenge and we just don't want to create that possibility."
Amakye said the state should make an exception for this spot.
"To me, either make it legal and people can do it, or make it illegal and people will do it anyway. So might as well make it legal and do it," she said.
The Dallas County Sheriff's Department is responsible for traffic enforcement on the interstate and Dallas police are responsible for law enforcement on the median. Information requests to both resulted in no records of significant accident history or ticket writing at the location.
Even so, Hartzel stressed that the state still considers the location dangerous and urges drivers not to stop there.
