Route information | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Maintained by TxDOT | ||||
Length | 35.293 mi [1] (56.799 km) | |||
Existed | 1956–present | |||
Major junctions | ||||
South end | PR 22 on Padre Island | |||
North end | SH 35 / Spur 202 at Gregory | |||
Location | ||||
Country | United States | |||
State | Texas | |||
Highway system | ||||
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State Highway 361 (SH 361) is a state highway in San Patricio and Nueces counties that runs from Gregory in southern Texas, near Corpus Christi, east and south to Padre Island on the Gulf of Mexico coast.
The highway was first designated on April 4, 1956 as the six-mile (9.7 km) portion of the route from Aransas Pass to Port Aransas, and a 0.7 mile extension in Port Aransas to PR 53 was added to the designation on November 28, 1967. On January 31, 1969 FM 632 from Gregory to Aransas Pass was added to the SH 361 designation. The present route was completed on November 29, 1988 with the designation of PR 53 from Port Aransas to PR 22 on Padre Island as part of SH 361.
The highway's northern terminus is the intersection with SH 35 and Spur 202 at Gregory in San Patricio County. The route runs southeast through Ingleside, where it intersects Farm to Market Road 1069, then turns northeast to Aransas Pass. Here the route leaves the Texas mainland and crosses several bridges as it runs in a southeasterly direction through Stedman Island and Harbor Island. The highway is known as Port Aransas Causeway and Cemetery Road for this part of the route.
There is no bridge for the route over the Corpus Christi Channel between Harbor Island and Port Aransas on Mustang Island; a ferry operates at this point. The route takes a southwesterly direction at Port Aransas and runs along the length of Mustang Island. Much of the route crosses Mustang Island State Park, a 3,954-acre (16.00 km2) tourist and recreational area established by the state in 1979. The highway then crosses the Corpus Christi Pass onto Padre Island, where it ends at a junction with Park Road 22 near the Padre Isles Country Club in Nueces County. The road is paved throughout, except for the ferry at Port Aransas, and is often multi-lane. Much of the highway traverses the picturesque terrain of the Texas barrier islands along the Gulf of Mexico.
County | Location | mi | km | Destinations | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nueces | Corpus Christi | 0 | 0.0 | PR 22 | |
San Patricio | Aransas Pass | 25 | 40 | Loop 90 (Commercial Street) | |
27 | 43 | FM 2725 | |||
Ingleside | 30 | 48 | FM 1069 (Main Street) | ||
Gregory | 35 | 56 | SH 35 / Spur 202 | ||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi |
Interstate 37 (I-37) is a 143-mile (230 km) Interstate Highway located within the southern portion of the US state of Texas. The highway was first designated in 1959 as a route between Corpus Christi and San Antonio. Construction in the urban areas of Corpus Christi and San Antonio began in the 1960s, and the segments of the Interstate Highway in rural areas were completed by the 1980s. Prior to I-37, the route between Corpus Christi and San Antonio was served by a combination of State Highway 9 (SH 9) from Corpus Christi to Three Rivers and US Highway 281 (US 281) from Three Rivers to San Antonio. As a result of the construction of I-37, SH 9 was removed from the State Highway System.
San Patricio County is located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 68,755. Its county seat is Sinton. San Patricio County is part of the Corpus Christi metropolitan statistical area.
Nueces County is located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, the population was 353,178, making it the 16th-most populous county in the state. The county seat is Corpus Christi. The county was formed in 1846 from portions of San Patricio County and organized the following year. It is named for the Nueces River, which marks the county's northwestern boundary with San Patricio County before emptying into its mouth at Nueces Bay north of the port of Corpus Christi. Nueces County is part of the Corpus Christi metropolitan statistical area.
Port Aransas is a city in Nueces County, Texas, United States. This city is 180 miles southeast of San Antonio. The population was 2,904 at the 2020 census. Port Aransas is the only established town on Mustang Island. It is located north of Padre Island and is one of the longest barrier islands along the Texas coast. Corpus Christi Bay, the Gulf of Mexico, the Lydia Ann Ship Channel, and the Corpus Christi Ship Channel make up the surrounding waters.
Aransas Pass is a city in Aransas, Nueces, and San Patricio Counties in the U.S. state of Texas. The population was 8,011 at the 2021 Census.
Corpus Christi is a coastal city in the South Texas region of the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat and largest city of Nueces County with portions extending into Aransas, Kleberg, and San Patricio counties. It is 130 miles (210 km) southeast of San Antonio and 208 miles (335 km) southwest of Houston. Its political boundaries encompass Nueces Bay and Corpus Christi Bay. Its zoned boundaries include small land parcels or water inlets of three neighboring counties.
U.S. Highway 181 is a south–north U.S. Highway located entirely in the state of Texas. Both termini are at Interstate 37, the road that it mainly parallels to the east. US 181 begins in Corpus Christi, Texas at mile marker 0 to the south, through south-central Texas to just south of San Antonio to the north, for a total length of 137 miles (220 km).
South Texas is a region of the U.S. state of Texas that lies roughly south of—and includes—San Antonio. The southern and western boundary is the Rio Grande, and to the east it is the Gulf of Mexico. The population of this region is about 4.96 million according to the 2017 census estimates. The southern portion of this region is often referred to as the Rio Grande Valley. The eastern portion along the Gulf of Mexico is also referred to as the Coastal Bend.
State Highway 35 is a state highway in the U.S. state of Texas, maintained by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT). It runs primarily south–north, paralleling the Gulf of Mexico for much of its length, from a junction with Interstate 37 in Corpus Christi to Interstate 45 in southeastern Houston.
Aransas Pass is a navigable salt water channel connecting the Gulf of Mexico with Aransas Bay on the Texas Gulf coast in the United States. The pass separates Mustang Island to the south from San José Island to the north, and is protected by jetties extending into the Gulf from both islands. At the eastern end of the pass is the town of Port Aransas, located at the far northern end of Mustang Island. At the western end of the pass, on the mainland side of Aransas Bay, is the town of Aransas Pass. A free ferry serves the two towns. The pass is located on the Aransas County and Nueces County line.
State Highway 44 (SH 44) is a Texas state highway that runs from west of Encinal to Corpus Christi, Texas. This highway is also known as the Cesar Chavez Memorial Highway outside the city limits of Robstown, Banquete, Agua Dulce, Alice, and Corpus Christi in Nueces and Jim Hogg counties.
The Texas Coastal Bend, or just the Coastal Bend, is a geographical region in the US state of Texas. The name refers to the area being a curve along the Texas Gulf Coast of the Gulf of Mexico. The largest city of the Coastal Bend is Corpus Christi. It includes the Nueces Estuary and the Mission–Aransas Estuary, as well as part of Laguna Madre. The coastline is paralleled by several of the Texas barrier islands, including North Padre Island, Mustang Island, and San José Island.
Corpus Christi Bay is a scenic semi-tropical bay on the Texas coast found in San Patricio and Nueces counties, next to the major city of Corpus Christi. It is separated from the Gulf of Mexico by Mustang Island, and is fed by the Nueces River and Oso Creek from its western and southern extensions, Nueces Bay and Oso Bay. The bay is located approximately 136 miles (219 km) south of San Antonio, and 179 miles (288 km) southwest of Houston.
State Highway 286 is a Texas state highway running from downtown Corpus Christi south to Chapman Ranch. The route was designated on its current route in 1939. Before 1939, this route was known as SH 96, and was proposed to be extended to the southwest to Riviera. It is also locally known as the "Crosstown Expressway."
State Highway 357 is a Texas state highway that runs along the southwestern end of Corpus Christi. The route was originally designated as FM 692 on June 4, 1946. On September 5, 1946, it was redesignated to SH 357.
State Highway 358 is a Texas state highway that runs along the southern edge of Corpus Christi. The access road for Highway 358 is known as South Padre Island Drive (SPID). The official division is FM 665.
The Corpus Christi Harbor Bridge is a through arch bridge located in Corpus Christi, Texas which carries six lanes of U.S. Route 181 (US 181) and Texas State Highway 35 (SH 35) from downtown Corpus Christi to Rincon Point, known to locals as North Beach. The harbor bridge crosses the Corpus Christi Ship Channel and handles nearly 26,000 vehicles daily. A new bridge called the New Harbor Bridge is currently under construction. When complete it will allow larger ships to pass beneath, permit safer pedestrian transit, and reconfigure the entire highway interchange system in the surrounding community.
The John F. Kennedy Memorial Causeway is a paved highway located in Corpus Christi, Texas. The causeway crosses the Laguna Madre and connects North Padre Island with Flour Bluff on the Texas mainland.
The Corpus Christi Regional Transportation Authority is the operator of public transportation in Nueces County, Texas. Twenty-eight local routes are offered, plus Six peak hour express offerings. A seasonal express route is also provided to Padre Island beaches and two year-round shuttles in Downtown Corpus Christi in Port Aransas. These shuttles use buses designed to look like trolleys and the #94 Port Aransas travels along the beach for some of its journey. The CCRTA also operates 4 routes out of Robstown Station, as well as 3 routes in Gregory, Texas.
The U.S. state of Texas has a series of estuaries along its coast on the Gulf of Mexico, most of them bounded by the Texas barrier islands. Estuaries are coastal bodies of water in which freshwater from rivers mixes with saltwater from the sea. Twenty-one drainage basins terminate along the Texas coastline, forming a chain of seven major and five minor estuaries: listed from southwest to northeast, these are the Rio Grande Estuary, Laguna Madre, the Nueces Estuary, the Mission–Aransas Estuary, the Guadalupe Estuary, the Colorado–Lavaca Estuary, East Matagorda Bay, the San Bernard River and Cedar Lakes Estuary, the Brazos River Estuary, Christmas Bay, the Trinity–San Jacinto Estuary, and the Sabine–Neches Estuary. Each estuary is named for its one or two chief contributing rivers, excepting Laguna Madre, East Matagorda Bay, and Christmas Bay, which have no major river sources. The estuaries are also sometimes referred to by the names of their respective primary or central water bodies, though each also includes smaller secondary bays, inlets, or other marginal water bodies.