Texas State Highway 87

Infobox TX State Highway
type=State
route=87

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length_mi=249.39Texas Department of Transportation, [http://www.dot.state.tx.us/tpp/hwy/sh/sh0087.htm] ]
length_km=401.34
formed=by 1939
dir1=North
dir2=South
from=
junction=
|to=
previous_type=US
previous_route=87
next_type=State
next_route=88

State Highway 87 or SH 87 runs for 249.4 miles between Galveston, Texas (at a terminus shared with Interstate 45 and Spur 342) to U.S. Highway 59 and U.S. Highway 84 in Timpson, Texas.

Highway 87 has a notable stretch between Sea Rim State Park and High Island, Texas that has been washed out repeatedly over the decades and has been closed continuously since 1990. [http://www.texasfreeway.com/Statewide/historic/abandoned/87_closed/87_eroded.shtml] Portions of this stretch were less than 100 feet away from high tide in the 1990s. The storm surge from Hurricane Jerry which made landfall on October 15, 1989, left the highway in a state of disrepair.

While talk about rebuilding the destroyed segment of State Highway 87 happens from time to time (for example, [http://web.archive.org/web/20010618074807/http://www.dot.state.tx.us/tdotnews/trnscrpt/1998trns/1098trns.htm in 1998] ), there is no serious effort underway to do so.

History

SH 87 was originally designated by 1933 from Milam to High Island. The section of this route from Milam to Orange was the previously proposed SH 8A before being renumbered. In 1939, it was extended to its current terminus in Timpson, and replaced the section of SH 124 from High Island to Galveston. In 1970, road machinery used in its construction accidentally dug up several cannonballs and crumbling kegs of black powder. Further excavation eventually produced more kegs of black powder and several hundred cannonballs. The ammunition had been buried there by Confederate soldiers in what were the diches of Fort Manhassett in 1865. Fort Manhassett was a series of earthworks constructed by the Confederacy in 1863 to defend the western approaches to Sabine Pass. [ [http://www.wtblock.com/wtblockjr/fort1.htm Fort Manhassett: A Forgotten Chapter in the History of Sabine Pass, Texas ] ]

Future work

Two ferries currently operate on Galveston Bay, taking passengers from Port Bolivar to Galveston Island. Because of increasing traffic, especially during summer months, TxDOT was studying the possibility of building a bridge to connect Galveston Island or Pelican Island to the Bolivar Peninsula but by popular vote residents voted not to replace the ferries.

Counties and junctions

References