Interstate 69 (I-69) is an Interstate Highway that is in the process of being built in the US state of

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

. It is part of a longer

I-69 Interstate 69 (I-69) is an Interstate Highway in the United States currently consisting of 10 unconnected segments with an original continuous segment from Indianapolis, Indiana, northeast to the Canadian border in Port Huron, Michigan, at ...

extension known as the

NAFTA superhighway The NAFTA superhighway is a term sometimes used informally to refer to certain existing and proposed highways intended to link Canada, Mexico, and the United States. Although the term has not been used publicly by governments in an official policy ...

, that, when completed, will connect Canada to Mexico. In Texas, it will connect Tenaha and I-69 in

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

at the Louisiana border through the eastern part of the state and along the Texas Gulf Coast to

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, where it will split into three branches: I-69E to Brownsville, I-69C to Pharr, and I-69W to Laredo. The first segment of I-69 in Texas was opened in 2011 near Corpus Christi. The

American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) is a standards setting body which publishes specifications, test protocols, and guidelines that are used in highway design and construction throughout the United ...

(AASHTO) approved an additional of US 77 from Brownsville to the Willacy– Kenedy county line for designation as I-69, which was to be signed as I-69E upon concurrence from the

Federal Highway Administration The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is a division of the United States Department of Transportation that specializes in highway transportation. The agency's major activities are grouped into two programs, the Federal-aid Highway Program ...

(FHWA). FHWA approval for this segment was announced on May 29, 2013. By March 2015, a section of US 59 had been completed and designated as I-69 through

Greater Houston Greater Houston, designated by the United States Office of Management and Budget as Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land, is the fifth-most populous metropolitan statistical area in the United States, encompassing nine counties along the Gulf Co ...

. , short segments near the southern terminuses of the three branch routes have also all been completed. These branches are planned to be connected.

Route description

The congressionally designated I-69 corridor begins at the

Mexican border Mexico shares international borders with three nations: *To the north the United States–Mexico border, which extends for a length of through the states of Baja California, Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León and Tamaulipas. *To the southe ...

with three

auxiliary route In road transportation in the United States, a special route is a road in a numbered highway system that diverts a specific segment of related traffic away from another road. They are featured in many highway systems; most are found in the In ...

s: * I-69W begins at the entrance to the

World Trade International Bridge The World Trade International Bridge is one of four international bridges located in the cities of Laredo, Texas, and Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, that connect the United States and Mexico over the Rio Grande (Río Bravo). It is owned and opera ...

, which connects to Mexican Federal Highway 85D (Fed. 85D), near the border in Laredo. It is cosigned with both US 59 and State Highway Loop 20 (Loop 20; Bob Bullock Loop) and extends to I-35 (which connects to Fed. 85 south of the border). It will continue on US 59 east to George West, where it will intersect I-69C, it will then intersect I-37 east of George West, and it will then continue east to

. * I-69C (with connections to Fed. 97) begins in Pharr at I-2 and is designated for through Edinburg and cosigned with US 281. It will continue north along US 281 to George West, where it will intersect I-69W and terminate at this point. * I-69E begins just north of the Veterans International Bridge, which connects to both Fed. 101 and Fed. 180, near the border in Brownsville and continues for through Olmito, where it intersects I-169, and through Harlingen, where it intersects I-2, past Raymondville to the Willacy– Kenedy county line, and cosigned with US 77; it is also cosigned with US 83 from Brownsville to Harlingen. The route will follow the US 77 corridor north to Corpus Christi, where a segment is already designated as I-69E and cosigned with US 77 and also intersects I-37, and it will then continue north to Victoria. I-69W and I-69E will merge just south of Victoria, Texas, where mainline I-69 will follow US 59 northeast to

Fort Bend County Fort Bend County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. The county was founded in 1837 and organized the next year. It is named for a blockhouse at a bend of the Brazos River. The community developed around the fort in early days. Th ...

. In

, I-69 follows US 59 (Southwest Freeway) from

to the west loop of I-610. I-69 then follows US 59 (Eastex Freeway) from the north loop of I-610 to the

Liberty Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...

– Montgomery county line. The segment of US 59 inside the I-610 loop, through

Downtown Houston Downtown is the largest central business district in the city of Houston and the largest in the state of Texas, located near the geographic center of the metropolitan area at the confluence of Interstate 10, Interstate 45, and Interstate 69. The ...

, was approved for designation as I-69 by the FHWA on March 9, 2015, and approved for signage as I-69 by the Texas Transportation Commission on March 25, 2015. I-69 will follow US 59 to the north, serving

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

, Shepherd, Livingston, Lufkin,

Nacogdoches Nacogdoches ( ) is a small city in East Texas and the county seat of Nacogdoches County, Texas, United States. The 2020 U.S. census recorded the city's population at 32,147. Nacogdoches is a sister city of the smaller, similarly named Natchitoch ...

, and Tenaha. In Tenaha, I-69 will head into

along the US 84 corridor. The segment of US 59 from Tenaha to Texarkana will be signed as I-369.

History

The federal legislation designating the south Texas branches as I-69 suggested that these routes may be designated as "I-69E" (east, following US 77), "I-69C" (central, following US 281), and "I-69W" (west, following US 59), the AASHTO Special Committee on Route Numbering rejected the

Texas Department of Transportation The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT ) is a government agency in the American state of Texas. Though the public face of the agency is generally associated with the construction and maintenance of the state's immense state highway system ...

(TxDOT)'s request for these three designations along the proposed I-69 branches, citing that AASHTO policy no longer allows Interstate Highways to be signed as suffixed routes. Stating that the I-69E, I-69C, and I-69W designations for the three I-69 branches south of Victoria were written into federal law, the initial denial of TxDOT's applications were subsequently overturned by the AASHTO Standing Committee on Highways, and the approval for the I-69E, I-69C, and I-69W branch designations were confirmed by the AASHTO Board of Directors, pending concurrence from the FHWA during the AASHTO Spring Meeting on May 7, 2013. During this same meeting, the section of US 83 between Harlingen and Peñitas was conditionally approved to be designated as I-2, with FHWA concurrence. The US 83 freeway in south Texas was widely anticipated to receive an I-X69 designation instead of I-2. 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 . On June 11, 2008, TxDOT announced they planned to limit further study of I-69 to existing highway corridors (US 59, US 77, US 84, US 281, and State Highway 44 (SH 44)) outside transition zones in the lower Rio Grande Valley, Laredo, Houston, and Texarkana. Texas originally sought a

public–private partnership A public–private partnership (PPP, 3P, or P3) is a long-term arrangement between a government and private sector institutions.Hodge, G. A and Greve, C. (2007), Public–Private Partnerships: An International Performance Review, Public Adminis ...

to construct much of the route through Texas as a privately operated toll road under the failed

Trans-Texas Corridor The Trans-Texas Corridor (TTC) was a proposal for a transportation network in the U.S. State of Texas that was conceived to be composed of a new kind of transportation modality known as supercorridors. The TTC was initially proposed in 2001 and a ...

project. 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 US 77 corridor between Brownsville and I-37; the Zachry/ACS plan calls for the majority of the freeway to be toll-free; the only two tolled sections would be bypasses of Riviera and Driscoll. 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 ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

instead of entering the

Lower Rio Grande Valley The Lower Rio Grande Valley ( es, Valle del Río Grande), commonly known as the Rio Grande Valley or locally as the Valley or RGV, is a region spanning the border of Texas and Mexico located in a floodplain of the Rio Grande near its mouth. The ...

Recent and Future Improvements

Since 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 two-lane stretches to four lanes by adding a second

carriageway A carriageway (British English) or roadway (North American English) consists of a width of road on which a vehicle is not restricted by any physical barriers or separation to move laterally. A carriageway generally consists of a number of tra ...

to the existing roadway and adding one-way

frontage road A frontage road (also known as an access road, outer road, service road, feeder road, or parallel road) is a local road running parallel to a higher-speed, limited-access road. A frontage road is often used to provide access to private drive ...

s. Some bypasses will be built around some cities which are being called a relief route. 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". A bill was introduced and passed by the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

that allows 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 FHWA and AASHTO to designate of US 59 in the Houston area and 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 the FHWA for a segment of US 77 between I-37 and SH 44 near Corpus Christi and was approved by AASHTO in October 2011. Officials held a ceremony on December 5, 2011, to unveil I-69 signs on the Robstown–Corpus Christi section. On May 29, 2013, the Robstown–Corpus Christi section of I-69 was resigned as I-69E. At the May 18, 2012, AASHTO meeting, of US 59 (Eastex Freeway) from I-610 in Houston (on the loop's northern segment) to Fostoria Road in Liberty County were also approved as ready for I-69 signage, pending concurrence from the FHWA. The FHWA later granted concurrence and with the final approval of the

Texas Transportation Commission The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT ) is a government agency in the American state of Texas. Though the public face of the agency is generally associated with the construction and maintenance of the state's immense state highway system ...

, the stretch was officially designated as I-69. It was announced on February 6, 2013, that the FHWA had approved a segment of US 59 (Southwest Freeway) from I-610 in Houston (on the loop's western segment) to just southwest of Rosenberg; the Transportation Commission gave final approval later that month and signage was erected on April 3, 2013. The remaining segment of the original submission (the section within Houston between the northern and western sections of I-610) was approved for designation as I-69 by the FHWA on March 9, 2015, and approved for signage as I-69 by the Transportation Commission on March 25, 2015. The south terminus of the I-69 designation is to be extended to the Fort Bend– Wharton county line. This project is scheduled for completion in 2022. The northern terminus I-69 will be extended to Cleveland. This project is scheduled for completion in by end of 2022. In the way in Liberty County is the Riggs Cemetery built along construction of the freeway, but TXDOT is preserving it. The cemetery was established in 1892. It will also be extended to Shepherd. That project will begin in 2023 and is scheduled to be completed in 2027. On May 29, 2013, the Transportation Commission gave approval to naming completed Interstate-standard segments of US 77 and US 281 as I-69. On July 15, 2013, the Interstate markers were unveiled. US 77 through Cameron and Willacy counties are signed as I-69E. That includes of existing freeway starting at the international boundary in the middle of the Rio Grande in Brownsville and running north past Raymondville. The of US 281 freeway in Pharr and Edinburg are signed as I-69C. On November 20, 2014, the Transportation Commission voted to add two new sections totaling to I-69 in south Texas. The first section is of newly finished freeway near Robstown in Nueces County and was codesignated as I-69E/US 77, and the second section is a section of new freeway on the north side of Edinburg in Hidalgo County which was codesignated as I-69C/US 281. The designations were approved by the FHWA and by AASHTO. As a result, there is now a total of of I-69 in Texas (including I-2). On May 24, 2019, both the

Texas House of Representatives The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Texas Legislature. It consists of 150 members who are elected from single-member districts for two-year terms. As of the 2010 United States census, each member represents abo ...

and the

Texas Senate The Texas Senate ( es, Senado de Texas) is the upper house of the Texas State Legislature. There are 31 members of the Senate, representing single-member districts across the U.S. state of Texas, with populations of approximately 806,000 per co ...

approved a 10-year extension of highway funding needed for I-69. On October 3, 2019, construction on the

I-69 flyover project began and is scheduled to be completed in 2023. A bypass for Diboll is under construction and is scheduled for completion in 2025. The bypass for Corrigan started construction in late 2022 and is scheduled for completion in 2028.

Exit list

Notes

References

External links