When I searched for "gantry" in earlier threads, posts turned up on the subject in Thread 14.
The discussion about EA's route may have originated in earlier threads but I didn't search 1-14 in order
(skipped ahead a few threads each time).
(from thread #14, post #569, Nov. 4, 2014)
Police released info via Warrant that EA took the Sam Rayburn Tollway (State Highway 121) and
"passed the Custer Road gantry northbound".
EA's tag registered at 4:08 a.m. at Custer, ten minutes after he exited the garage nearest to Henry's at The Shops At Legacy (3:58 a.m.).
The entry onto SRT from Legacy Drive in Plano is on the 40.70 mile marker along State Highway 121.
*From
www.ask.com/wiki/Texas
iirc, Plano to Allen, Texas, State Highway 121
*State Highway 121 is a highway angling from southwest to northeast through north central Texas.
The highway begins in downtown Fort Worth (at the junction of Interstate 35W) extending to Bonham, Texas, and extends just north of the junction with U.S. Highway 82.
State Highway 121 is 85.563 miles long;
Fort Worth is marked SW 0.00 to 2.70 miles,
Dallas is 26.20 miles,
Plano at Legacy Drive is NE 40.70 miles,
Custer Road (FM2478) northbound exit and southbound entrance is marked 47.20 miles,
Custer Main Lane Gantry is 47.50 miles, etc.
https://www.ntta.org/roadsprojects/existroad/Documents/CPR_SRT_secure.pdf
This is the section of the State Highway 121 tollway (26 miles), known as the Sam Rayburn Tollway, and is relative to EA's travel the early morning of August 30, 2014.
A rectangle marks a Main Lane Toll Gantry (there is a rectangle at Custer at 47.50 miles), while a circle marks a
Ramp Toll Gantry (there's one at Custer a tad south of Main Lane at 47.20).**
There is a non-NTTA road on either side of SRT.
*East of Coppell (the map from NTTA linked above shows this section), the highway acts as the frontage road of the Sam Rayburn Tollway,
is a tolled freeway (is this an oxymoron?) that runs NE to McKinney.
From McKinney to Melissa, the state highway is multiplexed with US 75 and the North Central Expressway,
State Highway 121 is a smaller roadway referred to in some places as the Sam Rayburn Highway.
**EA passed "the Custer Road gantry northbound" at 4:08 a.m.
Also, I saw, "passed Custer on 121 at 4:08 a.m."
State Highway 121 begins in Fort Worth and continues to Bonham, Texas.
Specific stretches, not the total length, of State Highway 121 are called Sam Rayburn Tollway.
Prior to the Custer Gantry (4:08 p.m.) there's a toll place indicated on SRT that is very near to the area EA returned to and pinged from, 5800 Granite Parkway, at 4:56 a.m. (CM at 4:47).
If EA left the SAL garage and took Legacy Drive to SRT, would the first toll to register be as far as Custer?
If he entered SRT at Legacy, he would have driven right past the area he ended up pinging from within the same hour.
Entering from Legacy Drive on 121 (marker 40.70) to the Custer toll (marker 47.20 or 47.50) is a distance of about 6.5 miles. Add the mileage from the garage to the tollway.
What if he drove straight up (going north) on Custer Road from Legacy Drive when he left SAL and was entering SRT for the first time when he was toll tagged at 4:08?
Why then, shortly thereafter, did he turn around and drive to the Granite Parkway area pinging only about a mile short of SAL?
Could he have exited onto the non-NTTA road to drive undetected to his destination?
From the time EA was toll tagged to the time CM pinged from Granite Parkway area (4:08 until 4:47), what happened? Or, had something already happened prior to 3:58?
The Custer toll looks about as far north as Allen is but is west of Allen.
Although I'm not sure this post is clear, the turnaround is something to ponder.
Maybe people will give their input as to what it might signify.
EA ended back in an area (where CM's last ping registered) which is only about a mile away from SAL.
For all I know, towers can ping phones from over a mile away anyway so the pings don't pinpoint an exact location at 4:47 a.m. or, nine mins later, when EA pinged at 4:56.
Before EA turned around he had traveled about eight miles already (from SAL to the Custer gantry).
If any calculations are off, I apologize in advance. Please offer corrections if necessary. :gathering: