Interstate 69 in Texas

This article is about the section of Interstate 69 in Texas. For the entire length of the highway, see Interstate 69.

Interstate 69
Route information
Maintained by TxDOT
Length:	69.6 mi (112.0 km)
Existed:	December 5, 2011 – present
Corpus Christi Area segment
Length:	6.2 mi (10.0 km)
South end:	SH 44 in Robstown
North end:	I-37 in Corpus Christi
South Houston Area segment
Length:	28.4 mi (45.7 km)
South end:	US 59 in Rosenberg
North end:	West loop of I-610 in Houston
North Houston Area segment
Length:	35.0 mi (56.3 km)
South end:	North loop of I-610 in Houston
North end:	US 59 near Cleveland
Highway system
Interstate Highway System Main Auxiliary Business Highways in Texas Interstate US State Loops Spurs Rec FM Toll ← SH 68 US 69 →

Interstate 69 in the U.S. state of Texas is an extension of that existing Interstate Highway that is planned to pass through the eastern part of the state and along the Gulf Coast to near Victoria, Texas, where it will split into multiple segments with the mainline terminating at Brownsville, whilst I-69C terminates at Pharr-McAllen, and I-69W terminates at Laredo.

As of May 2013 there are currently three disconnected segments of the interstate:

• A 6.2 mile (10 km) stretch from Interstate 37 in Corpus Christi to State Highway 44 in Robstown (co-signed with US 77)
• A 35 mile stretch from the northern section of Interstate 610 in Houston to Liberty County (co-signed with US 59)
• A 28 miles stretch from the western section of Interstate 610 in Houston to near Rosenberg (co-signed with US 59)

The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials has approved an additional 53 miles of US 77 from Brownsville to Raymondville for designation as I-69, which will be signed as I-69 upon concurrence from the FHWA.

Route description

Current plans have I-69 entering from Louisiana along the US 84 corridor to the east and intersect with the US 59 corridor in Tenaha and roughly follow US 59 to the south, serving Nacogdoches, Lufkin, Livingston, Shepherd, and Cleveland. The segment of US 59 from Tenaha to Texarkana is being considered as a spur segment to be designated as Interstate 369.

In Lufkin, I-69 would intersect with US 69, presenting some interesting directional signage; to avoid confusion, a redesignation of US 69 from its intersection with US 175 southward (as an extension of US 175) is a possibility.

In the Houston area, Interstate 69 follows US 59 (Eastex Freeway) from the Liberty-Montgomery county line to the north loop of Interstate 610 and Interstate 69 also follows US 59 (Southwest Freeway) from the west loop of Interstate 610 into Fort Bend County. The segment of US 59 inside Loop I-610, through downtown Houston, has been submitted for designation as Interstate 69 and is awaiting approval.

South of Rosenberg, I-69 is expected to follow the US 59 corridor southwest to Victoria, Texas. From there, the congressionally designated corridor splits into three possible "legs":

• West along the US 59 corridor to the Mexican border in Laredo via George West (where it will intersect I-37). This leg will also intersect I-35 in Laredo, which connects to Mexican Federal Highway 85 south of the border.
• Central along the US 59 corridor to George West, then turning south along the US 281 corridor to the Mexican border in Pharr (with connections to Mexican Federal Highway 97).
• East along the US 77 corridor to the Mexican border in Brownsville, Texas (with connections to Mexican Federal Highway 180), intersecting I-37 northwest of Corpus Christi.

Since the first section of US 77 between Corpus Christi and Robstown has been signed as I-69, it was originally implied that the I-69 mainline will follow the coastal (US-77) route from Victoria to Brownsville. This also implied that the branch along US 59 to Laredo and the branch along US 281 to Pharr were to be signed as either 3-digit spurs of I-69 (I-x69) or as separate 2-digit interstate routes. While federal legislation designating the south Texas branches as I-69 suggests that these routes may be designated as "I-69E" (east, following US-77), "I-69C" (central, following US-281), and "I-69W" (west, following US-59), the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials Special Committee on Route Numbering rejected the Texas Department of Transportation's request for these three designations along the proposed I-69 branches, citing that AASHTO policy no longer allows Interstate highways to be signed as suffixed routes. Stating that the I-69E, I-69C, and I-69W designations for the three I-69 branches south of Victoria, Texas were written into federal law, the initial denial of TxDOT's applications were subsequently overturned by the AASHTO Standing Committee on Highways, and the approval for the the I-69E, I-69C, and I-69W branch designations were confirmed by the AASHTO Board of Directors, pending concurrence from the Federal Highway Administration during the AASHTO Spring Meeting on May 7, 2013. During this same meeting, the section of US-83 between Harlingen and Mission was conditionally approved to be designated as Interstate 2, with FHWA concurrence. The US-83 freeway in south Texas was widely anticipated to receive an I-x69 designation instead of I-2. In any case, Texas is proceeding in the same fashion as Indiana, conducting environmental studies for its portion of I-69 in a two-tier process. The mainline route through Texas will be approximately 500 miles (800 km). On June 11, 2008, TxDOT announced they planned to limit further study of I-69 to existing highway corridors (US 59, US 77, US 84, US 281, and SH 44) outside transition zones in the lower Rio Grande Valley, Laredo, Houston, and Texarkana.

Texas originally sought a public-private partnership to construct much of the route through Texas as a privately operated toll road under the failed Trans-Texas Corridor project. However, on June 26, 2008, TxDOT announced that they had approved a proposal by Zachry American and ACS Infrastructure to develop the I-69 corridor in Texas, beginning with upgrades to the US 77 corridor between Brownsville and I-37; the Zachry/ACS plan calls for the majority of the freeway to be toll-free; the only two tolled sections would be bypasses of Riviera and Driscoll.

Original plans for the route included a potential overlap with the "TTC-35" corridor component as well, but the preferred alternative for that component follows I-35 south of San Antonio instead of entering the lower Rio Grande Valley.

Status

TxDOT reported in June 2011 that over 230 miles of the proposed 500-mile I-69 route through the state has been completed.

As of July 2011, Texas has been proceeding with upgrading rural sections of US 59, US 77, and US 281 to interstate standards by replacing intersections with interchanges, and converting 2-lane stretches to 4 lanes by adding a second carriageway to the existing roadway.

A stated goal of TxDOT's I-69 initiative is that "existing suitable freeway sections of the proposed system be designated as I-69 as soon as possible." A bill was introduced and passed by the House of Representatives that allows interstate quality sections of US 59, US 77, and US 281 to be signed as I-69 regardless of whether or not they connected to other interstate highways.

Meanwhile, TxDOT has submitted an application to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) to designate 75 miles of US 59 in the Houston area and 8 miles of US 77 near Corpus Christi as I-69, as these sections are already built to interstate standards and connect to other interstate highways. In August 2011, TxDOT received approval from FHWA for a six-mile segment of US 77 between I-37 and SH 44 near Corpus Christi, and was approved by the AASHTO in October 2011. Officials held a ceremony on December 5, 2011 to unveil I-69 signs on the Robstown-Corpus Christi section.

At the May 18, 2012 meeting of AASHTO, 35 miles of US-59 (Eastex Freeway) from I-610 in Houston (on the loop's northern segment) to Fostoria Road in Liberty County were also approved as ready for I-69 signage, pending concurrence from the Federal Highway Administration. FHWA later granted concurrence and with the final approval of the Texas Transportation Commission, the 35-mile stretch was officially designated as I-69. It was announced on February 6, 2013 that FHWA had approved a 28.4 mile segment of US-59 (Southwest Freeway) from I-610 in Houston (on the loop's western segment) to just south of Rosenberg, The Texas Transportation Commission gave final approval later that month and signage was erected on April 3, 2013. The remaining segment of the original 75-mile submission (the section within Houston between the northern and western sections of I-610) is still in the review process as of February 2013. It has been confirmed on March 29, 2013 that Interstate 69 will follow the west route from Victoria to Laredo, Texas.^{[citation needed]}

Exit list

Robstown to Corpus Christi segment

NOTE: No mile marker or exit numbers have been assigned to this segment to date.

County	Location	# Mile	Destinations	Notes
Continues south as US 77
Nueces	Robstown		SH 44 east / Industrial Boulevard, Avenue E, Main Avenue – Corpus Christi	Northbound exit and southbound entrance; south end of SH 44 overlap
			SH 44 west – Freer	North end of SH 44 overlap
			US 77 Bus. south / County Road 44 – Robstown
	Corpus Christi		FM 624 west (Northwest Boulevard) / Leopard Street
			I-37 south – Corpus Christi	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
			I-37 north / US 77 north – San Antonio, Odem	Northbound exit and southbound entrance; north end of US 77 overlap; current end of I-69
Continues north as US 77

Corpus Christi to Greater Houston Segment

NOTE: The status of this segment is unfinished; it is currently only in the planning and development stage. Because of this, there are no mile markers available.
The proposed route is to go from I-37 in Corpus Christi, following US 77 to Victoria, Texas until it reaches Loop 91, then following US 59 to Spur 529 in Fort Bend County, where it is officially designated as I-69.

Greater Houston segments

NOTE: No mile marker or exit numbers have been assigned to these segments to date. The segment within the Interstate 610 loop is included here, but it has not been officially designated as Interstate 69.

County	Location	# Mile	Junction	Notes
Continues south as US 59
Fort Bend	Rosenberg
			Spur 529
			Frontage Road	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
			SH 36 – Rosenberg
			FM 2218 – Richmond
			Reading Road
			FM 762 – Richmond
			Williams Way Boulevard
	Sugar Land		SH 99 (Grand Parkway) / FM 2759 (Crabb River Road)
			Brazos River Turnaround
			University Boulevard
			Sweetwater Boulevard, First Colony Boulevard
			SH 6
			Sugar Lakes Drive, Williams Trace Boulevard
			Dairy Ashford Road, Sugar Creek Boulevard
			US 90 Alt.
	Stafford		Kirkwood Road, West Airport Boulevard
Harris	Houston		FM 1092 (Wilcrest Drive) / West Bellfort Avenue
			Sam Houston Tollway
			Beltway 8 (Frontage Road)	Northbound exit is via the FM 1092 exit
			Bissonnet Street
			South Gessner Road, Beechnut Street
			Fondren Road, Bellaire Boulevard
			Hillcroft Avenue
			Westpark Tollway east	Northbound exit only
			Westpark Tollway west	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
			Westpark Drive	Northbound exit is via the Hillcroft Avenue exit
			Fountainview Drive	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
			Chimney Rock Road
			I-610 (West Loop Freeway)
		Continues north as US 59		Interstate designation in progress
			Newcastle Drive	Northbound exit is via the Weslayan Road exit
			Weslayan Road
		516	Buffalo Speedway, Edloe Street
			Kirby Drive
			Greenbriar Drive, South Shepherd Drive
			Spur 527 north	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
			Main Street	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
			Fannin Street	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
			SH 288 south (South Freeway) – Lake Jackson, Freeport
			McGowen Avenue, Tuam Avenue	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
			I-45 (Gulf Freeway) – Dallas, Galveston
			Gray Avenue, Pierce Avenue; Downtown Houston	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
			Polk Street – Downtown Houston	Northbound exit only
			Jackson Street – Downtown Houston, George R. Brown Convention Center	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
			I-10 (East Freeway) – San Antonio, Beaumont
			Lyons Avenue, Quitman Street
			Collingsworth Street, Cavalcade Street, Kelley Street
			Cavalcade Street	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		Continues south as US 59		Interstate designation in progress
			I-610 (North Loop Freeway)
			Crosstimbers Road, Kelley Street, Bennington Road
			Laura Koppe Road	Southbound exit is via the Tidwell Road exit
			Tidwell Road
			Parker Road, Saunders Road, Jensen Drive
			Little York Road
			Hopper Road	Northbound exit is via the Little York Road exit
			East Mount Houston Road
			Aldine Mail Route
			Lauder Road	Northbound exit is via the Aldine Mail Route exit
			Old Humble Road, Lee Road, Homestead Road	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
			FM 525 (Aldine Bender Road)
	Houston		Beltway 8 west (Sam Houston Parkway)
			Beltway 8 (Frontage Road)	Northbound exit is via FM 525 exit
			Greens Road
			Rankin Road
			Will Clayton Parkway – Bush Intercontinental Airport
	Humble		Frontage Road	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
			FM 1960 / FM 1960 Bus. – Humble
			Townsen Boulevard	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
			Loop 494 / Hamblen Road / Sorters-McClellan Road	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
Montgomery			Kingwood Drive
			Northpark Drive
			FM 1314 – Porter, Conroe
			Community Drive
			FM 1485 – New Caney
			Loop 494	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
			Roman Forest Boulevard
	Woodbranch		SH 242
			Local traffic only	Southbound exit only
			Creekwood Lane
	Splendora		FM 2090 – Splendora
			East River Drive
			Fostoria Road
Continues north as US 59

Greater Houston to Louisiana state line segment

From near Cleveland, Texas, follows US 59 to Tenaha, Texas then US 84 to Louisiana.

References

Interstate 69
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