Farm to Market Road 171 (FM 171) is a
farm to market road in
Wichita and
Clay
Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4).
Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...
counties,
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
.
Route description
FM 171 begins in
Wichita Falls at an intersection with
Bus. US 287 north of the
Wichita River
The Wichita River ( ), part of the Red River watershed, lies in north-central Texas. Rising in northeastern Knox County at the confluence of its North and South Forks, the river flows northeast across Baylor, Archer, Wichita, and Clay count ...
.
The route travels east on Lincoln Street to
SH 240. These two routes are concurrent northbound along King Boulevard before FM 171 turns back to the northeast along Jefferson Street. In the outskirts of Wichita Falls, FM 171 intersects
FM 1740 and then
FM 890, which provides access to
Sheppard AFB
Sheppard Air Force Base is a United States Air Force (USAF) base located north of the central business district of Wichita Falls, in Wichita County, Texas, United States. It is the largest training base and most diversified in Air Education ...
. From here, the roadway is known as the Upper Charlie Road (as opposed to FM 1740, referred to as Lower Charlie Road or simply Charlie Road). The route crosses the Wichita–Clay county line and meanders through the farming areas of Clay County. It intersects
FM 1177 and then
FM 2393 near
Thornberry.
The highway turns to the east, crossing
FM 810 south of the community of
Charlie
Charlie may refer to:
Characters
* "Charlie," the head of the Townsend Agency', from the ''Charlie's Angels'' franchise
* Charlie, a character on signs for the CharlieCard, a smart card issued by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
* ...
. FM 171 then enters
Byers, where it has a brief concurrency with
SH 79 through downtown, before it resumes its journey eastward. The roadway then turns southward, roughly paralleling the
Red River and the
Oklahoma
Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...
state line, before FM 171 reaches its eastern terminus at
FM 2332.
FM 171's roadway is generally two-lane and shoulderless, except for the section in the Wichita Falls metropolitan area (from its western terminus to its junction with FM 890) and during its concurrency with SH 79 in Byers.
History
FM 171 was first commissioned in Clay County on June 11, 1945. Its original designation was from Byers across
SH 148 south of Charlie to Wichita Falls. (SH 148 north of Petrolia would become FM 810 in 1948.
)The designation was extended eastward to east of Byers on October 31, 1957. On November 7, 1958, US 287 was rerouted in downtown Wichita Falls, and the FM 171 designation was extended along Lincoln Street to its current western terminus. The eastern terminus was extended to the south, first to a county road on May 2, 1962, and then to its current location at FM 2332 on June 1, 1965.
On June 27, 1995, the section from the eastern terminus at US 287 Bus. to the intersection with FM 890 was transferred to Urban Road 171 (UR 171). The designation of the section reverted to FM 171 with the elimination of the Urban Road system on November 15, 2018.
Major intersections
Notes
References
{{reflist
0171
Transportation in Clay County, Texas
Transportation in Wichita County, Texas