just take the damn toll, it is not much, I always use the tollway, fuck all the service road lights, that shit will eat up like 30 minutes.
Case in point, from my drive to Mesquite avoiding tolls takes 1 hour, paying tolls takes 30 minutes, I spend about $7-8 bucks round trip, but save on the extra mileage driving, I bet that about makes up for it in money terms, and surely does in time!
OR...you can hit 35 and come up 288, or 380, but once again...that takes more time. Avoid 423/Josey like the plague if you do take 121. Go on down to the Dallas tollway north. 423/Josey has a ton of construction, and The Colony PD sucks ass, that's where I just got my red light ticket, when I went on a yellow!
If you avoid ALL tolls, you will end up taking a long ass time to get here. Best bet is to hit 35 coming out my way, and take Swisher Rd, or 288, or 380. If you don't know those ways, call me...