Interstate 69 in Texas

Interstate 69 in Texas

 

I-69
Get started Brownsville
End Carthage
Length ~500 mi
Length ~800 km
Route
State Route 44

Robstown

County Road 44

Northwest Boulevard

→ Corpus Christi / San Antonio

Kendleton (East)

Beasley (west)

Beasley (East)

Patton Road

Southwest Freeway

Spur 529

Rosenberg

FM 2218

Reading Road

Richmond

Williams Way Boulevard

Grand Parkway

University Boulevard

Sweetwater Boulevard

State Highway 6

Sugar Lakes Drive

Dairy Ashford Road

US 90 Alternate

Kirkwood Road

FM 1092

Bissonnet Street

South Gessner Road

Fondren Road

Hillcroft Avenue

West Park Tollway

West Park Drive

Fountainview Drive

Chimney Rock Road

Eastex Freeway

Lyons Avenue

Collingsworth Street

Cavalcade Street

Cross Timbers Road

Laura Koppe Road

Tidwell Road

Parker Road

Little York Road

Hopper Road

East Mount Houston Road

Aldine Mail Route

Lauder Road

Old Humble Road

Aldine Bender Road

Greens Road

Rankin Road

Will Clayton Parkway

Humble

Townsen Boulevard

Hamblen Road

Kingwood Drive

North Park Drive

porter

Community Drive

New Caney

Walk 494

Roman Forest Boulevard

wood branch

Creekwood Lane

Splendora

East River Drive

Fostoria Road

According to ACT-TEST-CENTERS.COM, Interstate 69 or I -69 is an Interstate Highway in the US state of Texas. Most of the highway is still in the planning phase, and will run north-south through the east and south of the state. The planned length is more than 800 kilometers. Several sections have already been completed as freeway, particularly in the Houston area.

Travel directions

Coastal Bend

In the Victoria area, I-69E and I-69W should converge, after which the actual I-69 begins. The highway will mainly follow the existing US 59 corridor from Victoria to Houston, passing through the flat Coastal Bend, but at some distance from the Gulf of Mexico.

Greater Houston

According to liuxers.com, in the Houston area, I-69 runs on the Southwest Freeway and the Eastex Freeway, through Downtown Houston. These are very busy highways, the Southwest Freeway has 2×4 to 2×6 lanes plus an alternate lane that has its own connections in the median strip. On the south side of Downtown Houston is a 16-lane parallel structure. I-69 runs on overpasses along the east side of downtown with 2×4 lanes and intersects with Interstate 10 and Interstate 45. North of downtown, I-69 is formed by the modern Eastex Freeway, which has 2×5 lanes with a reversible lane. North of the Houston airport, I-69 has 2×4 lanes, eventually narrowing to 2×2 lanes.

East Texas

In East Texas, I-69 also follows the corridor of US 59, via Cleveland, Livingston, Lufkin and Nacogdoches to Tenaha. At Tenaha, I-369 must connect. In East Texas, I-69 runs mostly through wooded areas. After Tenaha, the border with the state of Louisiana follows, after which Interstate 69 in Louisiana runs towards Shreveport.

History

Various routes have been developed as freeways since the 1950s with a US Highway number. On December 5, 2011, the first section of the highway was signposted as I-69, a 10-mile stretch between I-37 and SH 44, west of Corpus Christi near Robstown. This was previously US 77. In September 2012, the first signposts with I-69 were installed along the Eastex Freeway in Houston. On February 28, 2013, I-69 was approved for the Southwest Freeway in Houston west of I-610. Since March 26, 2015, I-69 has also been assigned to US 59 within I-610 in Houston. With this, the entire 120-kilometer route through the Houston area is numbered as Interstate 69.

On August 31, 2018, the frontage roads on the southern part of the El Campo bypass were completed, effectively upgrading this part to a freeway. Between early 2016 and April 2019, 21 miles of US 59 southwest of Rosenberg in Fort Bend County was converted to 2×3 lane Interstate 69. The project cost $100 million.

The conversion of US 59 to I-69 between Kendleton and Rosenberg southwest of Houston was completed in 2019 and the reconstruction of the Rosenberg bypass will follow in 2021. In 2021, the newly reconfigured portion in western Fort Bend County will be further widened to 2×3 lanes between Kendleton and Rosenberg. With this, the entire portion of I-69 in Fort Bend County had a minimum of 2×3 lanes, even though the portion southwest of Rosenberg was not yet suburbanized at the time.

Opening history

South Texas
From Unpleasant Length Date
Harlingen bypass 5 km circa 1963
Harlingen Sebastian 17 km circa 1980s
Northwest Boulevard I-37 1 km circa 1982
Robstown Bypass 4 km circa 1998
Robstown Northwest Boulevard 4 km 2006
Corpus Christi – Houston
From Unpleasant Length Date
Edna (west) Edna (east) 6 km < 1984
El Campo (west) El Campo (South) 5 km 31-08-2018
Kendleton Rosenberg 14 km 24-04-2019
Southwest Freeway, Houston
From Unpleasant Length Date
I-10 Runnells Street 1.1 km 11-04-1958
Alabama Street (Spur 527) Kirby Drive 4.0 km 26-07-1961
Main Street Dairy Ashford Road 1.1 km 00-00-1962
Kirby Drive West Park Drive 7.6 km 24-07-1962
West Park Drive Fondren Road 3.5 km 09-04-1965
Runnells Street I-45 2.0 km 00-04-1966
Fondren Road Bissonnet Street 3.6 km 00-09-1969
Dairy Ashford Road State Highway 6 3.3 km 00-00-1973
Bissonnet Street Wilcrest Drive 3.8 km 00-08-1974
I-45 Spur 527 3.2 km 27-09-1974
Wilcrest Drive Main Street 3.5 km 00-00-1975
State Highway 6 Rosenberg 24.5 km 00-00-1983
Eastex Freeway, Houston
From Unpleasant Length Date
Collingsworth Street Bennington Street 3 km 22-12-1953
Bennington Street Laura Koppe Road 2 km 00-02-1955
I-10 Collingsworth Street 3 km 00-12-1955
Laura Koppe Road Little York Road 3 km 00-00-1956
Little York Road Mount Houston Road 3 km 00-00-1959
Mount Houston Road Aldine Bender Road 5 km 00-00-1960
Greens Road Humble 6 km 00-00-1969
Aldine Bender Road Greens Road 3 km 00-00-1970
Humble Kingwood 4 km 00-00-1981
Houston – Carthage
  • reserved (future)

Future

The Eastex Freeway at Beltway 8 in Houston.

Already 370 kilometers of the planned 800 kilometers in Texas has already been developed as an Interstate Highway. This concerns the following routes;

  • US 59 in the wider Houston area
  • US 77 in the Harlingen – Brownsville region

Most other parts of the planned route via US 59 and US 77 are already 2×2 lanes, but do not yet have an Interstate Highway standard. The most concrete part for a renumbering to I-69 is US 59 in the Houston area, in July 2012 a double numbering of I-69 and US 59 was approved by the Houston area.

South Texas

The next major project to build I-69 concerns the conversion of US 77 between Corpus Christi and Harlingen in the deep south of Texas. In July 2012, the EIS was approved by the FHWA. A bypass is planned at Riviera, with an estimated cost of $128 million in 2022.

Corpus Christi – Victoria

Refugio County

The most costly project between Corpus Christi and Victoria is a bypass of Refugio. The cost of this is estimated at $474 million in 2022.

Victoria – Houston

Wharton County

In the short term, the northern part of the El Campo bypass in Wharton County will also be equipped with frontage roads, so that the main carriageways can become an Interstate Highway. This should start in mid-2019. A larger project is the reconstruction of the entire route in Wharton County. An environmental assessment was published for this in December 2016. In Wharton County, US 59 is being upgraded to a 2×2 lane freeway and frontage roadswith 2 lanes each. This work started in 2020 and may be completed by mid-2023. In June 2017, the environmental ordinance for the reconstruction of US 59 between El Campo and the Jackson County border was issued. This reconstruction is about 19 kilometers long.

East Texas

In August 2019, a FONSI was established for 11 kilometers of I-69 between Cleveland and Shepherd. A bypass around Corrigan is planned further north of Houston. The final environmental decision for the Corrigan bypass was adopted on 23 January 2018, followed by a FONSI on 9 April 2018.

In 2015, a grade-separated connection was realized at Redland north of Lufkin. Procedures were carried out in 2017-2018 for the upgrade of the section between Lufkin and Redland.

I-69 will soon be built on the south side of Nacogdoches in East Texas. Also, a 6-kilometer section of 2×2 US 59 south of Cleveland, just outside the Houston area, will be widened to 2×3 lanes of frontage roads, becoming part of I-69. A FONSI was established for this project in May 2018. Proceedings have also been initiated for the Cleveland to Shepherd route. Cleveland and Shepherd upgrade may begin in early 2023.

Numbering

The plan is to number I-69 in South Texas as three branches;

  • I-69E: Robstown – Harlingen – Brownsville (US 77)
  • I-69C: Mathis-Pharr (US 281)
  • I-69W: George West – Laredo (US 59)

On July 15, 2013, the first signposts with I-69E were unveiled in Harlingen. On February 21, 2014, Loop 20 around Laredo was designated Future I-69.

The number I-69C is the first Interstate number with the designation “central”. The I-69 branch to Laredo will likely be designated as the primary route of I-69, not I-69W.

Interstate 69 in Texas