Farm to Market Road 1093

Infobox TX State Highway
type=Farm
route=1093
length_mi=50.476
length_ref=TxDOT|FM|1093|accessdate=2008-03-16]
length_round=3
formed=1949
dir1=West
dir2=East
from=jct|state=TX|FM|3013 in Eagle Lake
junction=jct|state=TX|SH|6 in Houston
jct|state=TX|Beltway|8 in Houston
to=jct|state=TX|I|610 in Houston
previous_route=1092
previous_type=Farm
next_route=1094
next_type=Farm

Farm to Market Road 1093 (FM 1093) is a convert|50.476|mi|km|3|sing=on farm to market road in the U.S. state of Texas. It begins in Eagle Lake at FM 3013 and heads east to Interstate 610 in Houston. In Houston, a portion of FM 1093 is also a portion of "Westheimer Road", which continues east of I-610 without the FM 1093 designation.

East of Loop 610, Westheimer Rd. becomes Elgin at Bagby St. (on the east edge of the Montrose district) and terminates at Spur 5 adjacent to the University of Houston campus.

Westheimer Rd. is named after M.L. Westheimer, who owned a farm in the 1920s near what is now the Galleria area. His nephews include Mark Westheimer, a locally famous attorney, and David Westheimer, author of Von Ryan's Express and many other novels.

The official designation for FM 1093 from SH 99 to Loop 610 is Urban Road 1093, though this moniker is not stated on road signs or addresses, or even anywhere outside of the Texas Department of Transportation's official files.

In Houston, FM 1093 is a major thoroughfare through west Houston and outlying neighborhoods, with sections 8 lanes wide, not including turning lanes.

History

FM 1093 was designated in 1949, more than a decade before the Katy Freeway opened. As west Houston was sparsely populated at the time, the road served mainly as a transportation route for cargo in and out of Houston. In the 1960s, the west side went through major growth after the Katy Freeway was foreseen, and neighborhoods and businesses quickly developed. 1093, popularly known in the city as Westheimer, became a major thoroughfare for westside residents traveling into the Houston metro area.

Throughout the 70s and early 80s, Westheimer became clogged with offices, restaurants and strip malls all along its route. Due to major traffic, the road's lane capacity expanded many times as popularity continued to grow.

Effects of Westpark Tollway

The Westpark Tollway, opened in 2005, was purposely designed to lessen Westheimer's traffic flow and serve as a thoroughfare for travelers from George Bush Park and Bellaire. Both the Westpark Tollway and 1093 run almost parallel to each other, changing the opposite's traffic flow. West of State Highway 6, FM 1093 and Westpark Tollway merge into one route, with FM 1093 forming the free frontage roads, while the Westpark Tollway forms the main lanes.Fact|date=March 2008

The tollway has not drastically diverted traffic on Westheimer and is open solely to EZ Tag users. The tollway is designed to provide easier access to freeways such as Highway 59 and others which 1093 doesn't serve. Only traffic congestion is partially common on the tollway, but this is only temporary until the Katy Freeway expansion project is finished in 2009.Fact|date=March 2008

Junction list

References

* [http://www.txdot.state.tx.us/tpp/hwy/fm1000/fm1093.htm TxDOT designation file for FM 1093]
* [http://www.txdot.state.tx.us/tpp/hwy/ur/ur1093.htm TxDOT designation file for UR 1093]
* [http://maps.google.com/maps?q=westheimer+rd+houston+tx Google Map of Westheimer Rd / FM 1093]
* [http://www.heritagesociety.org/Hinton-Names%20of%20Houston%20Streets%20071907.pdf Historic Houston Streets: The Stories Behind the Names] PDF file