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
Highway system
Main route of the Interstate Highway System Main • Auxiliary • Business Highways in Texas Interstate • U.S. • TX (Loops – Spurs – Rec – FM) ← SH 68 US 69 →

Interstate 69 in the U.S. state of Texas is a proposed extension of that existing Interstate Highway that would pass through the eastern part of the state.

Route description

In Texas, I-69 will enter from Louisiana to the east and intersect with the U.S. Highway 59 corridor near Carthage and roughly follow US 59 to the south, serving Nacogdoches, Lufkin, Livingston, Shepherd, and Cleveland. In Lufkin, Interstate 69 will intersect with U.S. Highway 69, presenting some interesting directional signage.

In the Houston area, a number of possible routings of mainline Interstate 69 are possible. The designation could follow US 59, Interstate 610, Beltway 8 and the Sam Houston Tollway, State Highway 99 (Grand Parkway), or a new route. In the Houston area, I-69 will intersect Interstate 10 and Interstate 45.

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

• West along the US 59 corridor to the Mexican border in Laredo via George West (where it will intersect Interstate 37). This leg will also intersect Interstate 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 U.S. Highway 281 corridor to the Mexican border in Pharr.
• South along the U.S. Highway 77 corridor to the Mexican border in Brownsville, Texas (with connections to Mexican Federal Highway 180), intersecting I-37 northwest of Corpus Christi.

The routing of I-69 in Texas is being studied as part of the Trans-Texas Corridor (TTC) concept as the "I-69/TTC" component. The study also includes potential upgrades to the US 59 corridor north from Carthage to Texarkana, a federally designated spur from the I-69 route, along with a state-designated "Port to Port" corridor from Laredo to Corpus Christi roughly following SH 44 east of Freer.

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 (U.S. 59, U.S. 77, U.S. 281, U.S. 84, and SH 44) outside transition zones in the lower Rio Grande Valley, Laredo, Houston, and Texarkana.^[1]

Texas originally sought a public-private partnership to construct much of the route through Texas as a privately operated toll road. 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 U.S. 77 corridor between Brownsville and I-37; the Zachry/ACS plan calls for only two tolled sections of the I-69 mainline (bypasses of Riviera and Driscoll) with most of the freeway being toll-free.^[2]

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

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."^[3] A bill was introduced into the House of Representatives that, if enacted, would allow 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^[4]. Signage will begin posting during a ceremony on December 5, 2011^[5].

TxDOT reported in June 2011 that over 230 miles of the proposed 500-mile I-69 route through the state has been completed.^[6]

Opposition and controversy

The project has been opposed in Texas by both environmentalists and property-rights activists, albeit for somewhat different reasons. See the article on the Trans-Texas Corridor for more details.

Some opponents see I-69 and the Trans-Texas Corridor as a U.S. component of Plan Puebla Panama, an economic development plan proposed by former Mexican President Vicente Fox and related to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Dominican Republic – Central America Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA). While this plan has seen little public discussion in the United States, it may color views of the project in Mexico and other countries.^{[original research?]}

References

1. ^ Texas Department of Transportation, "TxDOT Recommends Narrowing Study Area for Texas Portion of I-69," June 11, 2008.
2. ^ Texas Department of Transportation, "Transportation Commission Picks Developer for Texas Portion of I-69," June 26, 2008.
3. ^ Texas Department of Transportation, What's Next for I-69 Texas?, accessed August 2011
4. ^ Texas Department of Transportation, Portion of US 77 Approved as Part of U.S. Interstate System, accessed August 2011
5. ^ {cite web|url=http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/articles/december-133075-first-going.html%7Ctitle=First I-69 signs going up on U.S. 77 in December}}
6. ^ So Far 230 miles of Interstate 69 Built, Corpus Christi Caller-Times June 7, 2011

Interstate 69
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