Texas state highways

infobox state highway system
shields=
caption=State Highway (left) and Farm to Market Road (right) shields
state=State Highway X (SH X)
interstate=Interstate Highway X (IH X)
us=U.S. Highway X (US X)
notes=All classes of state-numbered highways are generally state-maintained.portalpar|Texas|Texasflaginstate.png

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. In addition to the nationally-numbered Interstate highways and U.S. highways, the highway system consists of a main network of state highways, loops and spurs that provide local access to the Interstate Highways, U.S. Highways, and state 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 that are located near and within state and national parks as well as recreational areas. All state highways, regardless of classification, are paved roads.

History

Shield used until the mid-1940s

The Texas State Highway System can trace it 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 that were appointed by the governor for two year terms. In June 21, 1917, the commission held its first public hearing to receive input on potential highway routes. At this time, the committee also divided the state up into six divisions to be headquartered in Amarillo, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, San Angelo, and |title=Map showing proposed system of highways|year=1917|accessdate=2008-03-07]

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 Highway Department took full control of maintaining the state highways from the counties with which they resided. In 1925, the state legislature gives the Highway Department the responsibility of surveying, planning and building highways. The Highway Department was also authorized at this time to acquire new highway right-of-way by purchasing or condemning required land.

By 1927, the highway system covered convert|17960|mi|km|-1, of which convert|96|mi|km were concrete, convert|1060|mi|km|-1 were asphalt, convert|5000|mi|km|-3 were gravel, shell or stone and convert|10000|mi|km|-4 were dirt.

In 1951, a convert|50|mi|km|sing=on section of the Gulf Freeway (now Interstate 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 convert|43|mi|km|sing=on section of I-35 in Bexar County. By 1967, the highway system had convert|66000|mi|km|-3 of highway.cite web|url=http://www.txdot.gov/about_us/1970_1951.htm|title=TxDOT History: 1970 to 1951|author=Texas Department of Transportation|accessdate=2008-02-25]

In 1984, US 66 is replaced by I-40 and the US 66 designation is removed from the state highway system the following year.cite web|url=http://www.txdot.gov/about_us/2000_1971.htm|title=TxDOT History: 2000 to 1971|author=Texas Department of Transportation|accessdate=2008-03-07] [TxDOT|US|66|accessdate=2008-03-07] In 1992, the convert|3200|mi|km|-2 of Interstate Highway System in Texas was completed with the opening of a convert|6|mi|km|sing=on section of I-27. In 1997, the Texas Turnpike Authority is merged with TxDOT and independently, the North Texas Turnpike Authority becomes responsible for toll projects in Collin, Dallas, Denton and Tarrant counties.

Types of highways

Interstate Highways

The Interstate Highway System in Texas covers convert|3233.4|mi|km|1|link=on and consists of nine primary routes, six auxiliary routes and the splitting of Interstate 35 (I-35) into two branches, I-35E and I-35W, that provide access to both Fort Worth and Dallas. The Interstate Highway with the longest segment in Texas is I-10 at convert|878.6|mi|km|1. The shortest Interstate Highway in the state is I-110 at convert|0.9|mi|km|1.

The construction of the Interstate Highway System in Texas actually began well before these routes were designated as Interstate Highways. A convert|50|mi|km|0|sing=on 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, convert|43|mi|km|0 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. [cite web|url=http://www.txdot.gov/about_us/1970_1951.htm|title=TxDOT History: 1970 to 1951|author=Texas Department of Transportation|accessdate=2008-02-25] 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. [cite web|url=http://tti.tamu.edu/interstate_anniversary/white_paper/|title=From Anywhere to Everywhere: The Development of the Interstate Highway System in Texas|author=Beaumont et al.|publisher=Texas Transportation Institute|pages=30|accessdate=2008-02-25] The opening of a convert|6|mi|km|0|sing=on section of I-27 in 1992 completed the Interstate Highway System in Texas. [cite web|url=http://www.txdot.gov/about_us/2000_1971.htm|title=TxDOT History: 2000 to 1971|author=Texas Department of Transportation|accessdate=2008-02-25]

Planning is ongoing for a proposed extension of I-69 southward from its current terminus in Indiana through Texas to the United States-Mexico border. [cite web|author=Texas Department of Transportation|url=http://ttc.keeptexasmoving.com/projects/i69/|title=I-69/TTC (Northeast Texas to Mexico)|accessdate=2008-02-24] If built, I-69 will extend about convert|650|mi|km across Texas, from the Louisiana state line in the Texarkana-Shreveport area to South Texas. [cite web|author=Texas Department of Transportation|url=http://ttc.keeptexasmoving.com/publications/files/I69_Meeting_Handout_New_010908.pdf I-69|title=TTC Tier 1 EIS Meeting Handout|date=2008-02-09]

U.S. Highways

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 2-lane rural road, while others are urban freeways. 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. [TxDOT|US|81|accessdate=2008-03-07] [TxDOT|US|75|accessdate=2008-03-07] [TxDOT|US|80|accessdate=2008-03-07]

tate highways

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