Texas state highways are a network of highways owned and maintained by the U.S. state of Texas. The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) is the state agency responsible for the day-to-day operations and maintenance of the system. Texas has the largest state highway system, followed closely by North Carolina's state highway system. In addition to the nationally numbered Interstate Highways and U.S. Highways, the highway system consists of a main network of state highways, loops, spurs, and beltways that provide local access to the other highways. The system also includes a large network of farm to market roads that connect rural areas of the state with urban areas and the rest of the state highway system. The state also owns and maintains some park and recreational roads located near and within state and national parks, as well as recreational areas. All state highways, regardless of classification, are paved roads. The Old San Antonio Road, also known as the El Camino Real, is the oldest highway in the United States, first being blazed in 1691.[2] The length of the highways varies from US 83's893.4 miles (1,437.8km) inside the state borders to Spur 200 at just 0.05 miles (260ft; 80m) long.[2]
The Texas State Highway System can trace its roots to the establishment of the Texas Highway Department on April 4, 1917. Administrative control of the department was given to a three-member commission appointed by the governor for two-year terms. On June 21, 1917, the commission conducted its first public hearing to solicit input on potential highway routes. The committee also divided the state into six divisions to be headquartered in Amarillo, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, San Angelo, and San Antonio.[3] Later that year, the commission designated 26 state highways covering 8,865 miles (14,267km) which were to be readily accessible to 89% of the state's population.[3][4]
In 1921, Congress amended the Federal Aid to Roads Act of 1916 to require the states to take control of road design, construction, and maintenance of state highways by 1925. As a result, on January 1, 1924, the Texas Highway Department took full control of maintaining the state highways from the counties within which they resided. In 1925, the state legislature granted the highway department the responsibility of surveying, planning, and building highways, and the authorization to acquire new highway rights-of-way by purchasing, or condemning through eminent domain, land required for highway construction.[3]
By 1927, the highway system covered 17,960 miles (28,900km), of which 96 miles (154km) were concrete, 1,060 miles (1,710km) were asphalt, 5,000 miles (8,000km) were gravel, shell or stone, and 10,000 miles (20,000km) were clay or soil.[3]
The state road system in 1956, the last year before construction on the Interstate Highway System began
In 1951, a 50-mile (80km) section of the Gulf Freeway (now I-45) opened, becoming Texas' first urban freeway. In 1957, the state began receiving federal funding for the construction of the Interstate Highway System. The first section of Interstate Highway from county line to county line to open in the state was a 43-mile (69km) section of I-35 in Bexar County. By 1967, the highway system controlled 66,000 miles (106,000km) of highway.[5]
In 1984, US 66 was replaced by I-40 and the US 66 designation was removed from the state highway system the following year.[6]
In 1992, the 3,200 miles (5,100km) of Interstate Highway System in Texas was completed with the opening of a six-mile (9.7km) section of I-27. In 1997, the Texas Turnpike Authority was merged with TxDOT and independently, the North Texas Turnpike Authority became responsible for toll projects in Collin, Dallas, Denton, and Tarrant counties.[6]
The Interstate Highway System in Texas covers 3,233.4 miles (5,203.7km) and consists of ten primary highways, seven auxiliary highways, and the splitting of both Interstate 35 (I-35) and Interstate 69 into multiple letter-suffixed branches. The Interstate Highway with the longest segment in Texas is I-10 at 880.6 miles (1,417.2km). The shortest in the state is I-110 at 0.9 miles (1.4km).
The construction of the Interstate Highway System in Texas actually began well before these routes were designated as Interstate Highways. A 50-mile (80km) stretch of the Gulf Freeway (I-45) between Galveston and Houston was opened in 1951, eight years before it was designated I-45. It was also the first urban expressway in Texas. In 1962, 43 miles (69km) of I-35 opened in Bexar County, the first section of Interstate Highway to open from county line to county line in a large metropolitan area.[5] Portions of I-10 west of San Antonio took much longer to complete due to the vast open spaces and lack of nearby labor. The majority of the construction of this section of I-10 occurred in the 1970s and 1980s and was complete by the early 1990s. The section east of San Antonio was completed 20 years earlier in 1972.[7] The opening of a 6-mile (10km) section of I-27 in 1992 completed the Interstate Highway System in Texas.[6]
Construction is ongoing for an extension of I-69 southward from its original terminus in Indiana through Texas to the Mexican border.[8] When built, I-69 will extend about 650 miles (1,050km) across Texas, from the Louisiana state line in the Texarkana–Shreveport area to South Texas.[citation needed] Similar to I-35, I-69 splits into three letter-suffixed branches, I-69E, I-69C, and I-69W.
The United States Numbered Highways are a nationwide grid of highways, but unlike the Interstate Highway System, there is no minimum design standard for these highways. This is clearly evident as some stretches of the U.S. Highways in Texas are nothing more than a two-lane rural road, while others are urban freeways. Although the U.S. Highways have been replaced for the most part by Interstate Highways for through traffic, the U.S. Highways still serve as important regional connectors. Several notable examples of U.S. Highways that are built to freeway standards include US 75 and US 80 in Dallas, US 59 and US 290 in Houston, and US 90 and US 281 in San Antonio.
The Interstate Highways have replaced several portions of the U.S. Highway network in Texas and as a result, they have been removed from the State Highway System. Several examples include US 81 from Fort Worth to Laredo in favor of I-35, US 75 from Dallas to Galveston in favor of I-45, and US 80 from Dallas to El Paso in favor of I-10 and I-20.[9][10][11]
A State Highway (SH) is funded and maintained by the state.[12] State Highways have been assigned numbers between 1 and 365 with a few exceptions. There is also a State Highway 495 (renumbered from Farm to Market Road 495), as well as canceled routes SH 550 (a temporary designation for what is now part of I-169) and SH 824 (a temporary designation for what was later part of SH 24). NASA Road 1 and State Highway OSR are also in the State Highway network. The first 26 state highways were designated in 1917. Highways are not organized by directionality of the highway, instead they are generally numbered as they were when first built in the 1920s and 1930s. Most suffixed routes were eliminated by 1939, though SH 75A existed from 1946 to 1994 to match Oklahoma's SH 75A.
State highway loops and spurs are short links in the State Highway network. They are generally numbered chronologically, and the lower numbers are older routes. Thus, spurs and loops are not related to similarly numbered main state highways. Typically, a loop connects two state or national highways, and a spur connects a state highway to a Farm to Market Road or other lower rated road. Many loops are either bypasses around significant portions of populated areas or older bypassed state or national highways. One loop—around Houston—is labeled Beltway 8. The first loops and spurs were defined in 1939; prior to that, the roadways had been suffixed segments of the main state highways of which they branched.
Business routes
Business Interstate Highway, U.S. Highway, State Highway and Farm to Market Road shields
Business routes are assigned to many old alignments of Interstate Highways, U.S. Highways, State Highways and Farm to Market Roads that have been bypassed. In addition to the numerical designation, a unique lettered suffix is assigned to each business route along the highway—for instance, Business Interstate Highway 40-D and Business Farm to Market Road 1960-A. (Not all routes start from A, and letters are sometimes skipped.) These letters are included on the sign in small print below the number. The sign specifications for business Interstate highways do not include the letter, but it has been added to many signs. Prior to 1991, business routes were assigned loop or spur numbers, but signed as business routes (with a BUSINESS plate above the shield for the main route). In 1991, all the business routes were assigned official designations, and their former loop and spur numbers were eliminated.
Farm to Market Roads generally exist in rural areas. After the city or county acquires right-of-way, TxDOT builds and maintains the road.[12] A number of these roads, generally west of US 281,[13] are designated Ranch to Market Roads, and one—Ranch Road 1—is simply a Ranch Road, serving the LBJ Ranch. Farm to Market Roads were first designated in 1941 and Ranch to Market Roads in 1942. A number of Farm to Market Roads in urban areas were re-designated in 1995 as urban roads but, amid much controversy, the markers were not changed.
Park Roads and Recreational Roads serve state or national parks and "recognized recreational areas"; the first ones were defined in 1937 and 1970 respectively. All roads in state parks are maintained by TxDOT, but are generally not numbered.[12]
Toll Interstate Highway, U.S. Highway and state highway shields
One characteristic of the highways in Texas are its frontage roads; most freeways have continuous frontage roads, one-way in urban areas and two-way in rural areas. Several toll roads have one-way frontage roads—not necessarily continuous—with state highway numbers. Most toll roads are marked with special logos, but TxDOT has adopted a new marker as of 2006 for numbered toll roads.
Interstate 820 (I-820) is an auxiliary route of I-20 in Fort Worth, Texas, of approximately 35.173 miles (56.605 km) around the city and some of its suburbs. Exit numbers begin at its interchange with I-20 in southwest Fort Worth and continue in a clockwise direction around the city until it ends at its interchange with I-20 in southeast Fort Worth. A portion of I-820 in the northeast quadrant is cosigned with State Highway 121 (SH 121) as well as SH 183.
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).
U.S. Highway 175 (US 175) is a 111.0-mile (178.6 km) east-west United States Numbered Highway located completely within the state of Texas. It comes very close to meeting its parent route, US 75, but decommissioning and rerouting in Downtown Dallas leaves it short a couple of miles. Before the decommissioning of US 75 south of downtown Dallas in favor of Interstate 45 (I-45), US 175 met US 75. US 175's western terminus is in Dallas at I-45. The highway's eastern terminus is in Jacksonville at an intersection with US 69.
U.S. Route 290 is an east–west U.S. Highway located entirely within the state of Texas. Its western terminus is at Interstate 10 southeast of Segovia, and its eastern terminus is at Interstate 610 in northwest Houston. It is the main highway between Houston and Austin and is a cutoff for travelers wanting to bypass San Antonio on Interstate 10. Throughout its length west of Austin, US 290 cuts across mountainous hills comprising the Texas Hill Country and the Edwards Plateau; between Austin and Houston, the highway then travels through gradually hilly grasslands and pine forests comprising the Gulf Coastal Plains.
State Highway 35 is a 206.5-mile (332.3 km) state highway near the southeastern edge of Texas, United States, that is 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.
State Highway 288 (SH 288) is a north–south highway in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of Texas, between I-45 in downtown Houston and Freeport, where it terminates on FM 1495. The route was originally designated by 1939, replacing the southern portion of SH 19.
Interstate 635 (I-635) is a 37-mile-long (60 km) partial loop around Dallas, Texas, in the United States between I-20 in Balch Springs and SH 121 at the north entrance of the DFW Airport in Grapevine. It intersects I-35E at exits 27B and 27C but does not connect with I-35W. I-635 and a part of I-20 are collectively designated as the Lyndon B. Johnson Freeway; known locally as the LBJ Freeway, or simply LBJ. The roadway is named after Lyndon B. Johnson, the former U.S. senator from Texas and the 37th vice-president and 36th president of the U.S. Where I-635 ends at I-20, I-20 continues the LBJ Freeway designation heading west. Since the portion of I-20 between Spur 408 to I-635 retains the same names as I-635, the two highways are considered three-quarters of the beltway around Dallas. Together with Spur 408, a portion of Loop 12, and a portion of I-35E, I-635 and I-20 complete the beltway.
In the US state of Texas, Interstate 40 (I-40) runs west–east through the panhandle in the northwest part of the state. The only large city it passes through is Amarillo, where it meets the north end of I-27. The entire section of I-40 in Texas is designated as a Purple Heart Trail route.
State Highway 71 is a Texas state highway that runs 253 miles (407 km). The western terminus is at US 87 and US 377 south of Brady and its eastern terminus is at SH 35 near Blessing. This highway is designated the "10th Mountain Division Highway" from SH 95 to Interstate 35.
State Highway 302 is a Texas state highway maintained by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT). The 83.2-mile (133.9 km) route runs from U.S. Route 285 northwest of Pecos to Interstate 20 near Odessa. The route passes through Reeves, Loving, Winkler, and Ector counties. SH 302 has intersections with SH 115 and SH 18 in the Kermit area, and SH 158 east of Notrees. The route intersects Loop 338 and Spur 450 in West Odessa and then follows Loop 338 along the west side of Odessa until SH 302 terminates at I-20. SH 302 also intersects several Farm to Market Roads and an Interstate business route.
Farm to Market Road 1171 is a farm to market road in Denton County, Texas.
Loop 20, also known as the Bob Bullock Loop and Cuatro Vientos Road, is a highway loop that runs to the north and east of the city of Laredo, Texas. Loop 20 extends from the World Trade International Bridge at its northern point to Mangana-Hein Road at its southern point. The current route varies in construction from a 2-lane road to a freeway with frontage roads.
U.S. Route 77 (US 77) is a major highway that is part of the United States Numbered Highway System that runs from the Veterans International Bridge in Brownsville to Sioux City, Iowa. In Texas, the road runs south-north for 471.3 miles (758.5 km) from the International border with Mexico to the Oklahoma state line north of Gainesville. The highway is being upgraded to a freeway near Corpus Christi to connect to the freeway part of the highway in Raymondville as part of future I-69. A freeway in Robstown is already signed as part of I-69. From Waco to the Oklahoma state line, US 77 overlaps or runs parallel to I-35/I-35E.
Ranch to Market Road 2222 is a 10.844-mile (17.452 km) ranch to market road in Austin, Texas, United States, that connects Ranch to Market Road 620 with Texas State Highway Spur 69 and is maintained by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT). Despite RM 2222 ending at Spur 69, the entire length of Spur 69 is signed as RM 2222, rather than Spur 69.
Farm to Market Road 3078 is a 14.7-mile (23.7 km) road maintained by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) that connects Interstate 10 (I-10) to State Highway 17 (SH 17) in Toyahvale. The route is in Jeff Davis and Reeves counties and connects Toyahvale to points farther west along I-10 including Kent and Van Horn. FM 3078 is part of the state's Farm and Ranch to Market Road System.
Farm to Market Road 471 is an FM highway in the San Antonio area of Texas. The highway is known as Culebra Road within Bexar County.
↑ Texas State Highway Commission, Office of State Highway Engineer (July 1917). Map Showing Proposed System of State Highways (Map) (June 1917ed.). 1:2,112,200. Austin: Texas State Highway Commission. Retrieved March 7, 2008.
1 2 Texas Department of Transportation. "TxDOT History: 1970 to 1951". Texas Department of Transportation. Archived from the original on August 5, 2012. Retrieved February 25, 2008.
↑ Transportation Planning and Programming Division (n.d.). "U.S. Highway No.81". Highway Designation Files. Texas Department of Transportation. Retrieved March 7, 2008.
↑ Transportation Planning and Programming Division (n.d.). "U.S. Highway No.75". Highway Designation Files. Texas Department of Transportation. Retrieved March 7, 2008.
↑ Transportation Planning and Programming Division (n.d.). "U.S. Highway No.80". Highway Designation Files. Texas Department of Transportation. Retrieved March 7, 2008.
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