State Highway 45 is a highway loop around
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...
, that exists in two open segments. The official designation of SH 45 is such to form a complete loop around Austin, a distance of roughly .
One segment is in southwest Austin and runs southeast from
Ranch to Market Road 1826
A ranch (from es, rancho/Mexican Spanish) is an area of land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of a farm. These terms are most often ...
to
Farm to Market Road 1626
A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used fo ...
and intersects the southern terminus of
Loop 1 (Mopac Expressway). Between RM 1826 and Loop 1, the roadway is a divided, four-lane facility with a wide median intended to accommodate a future freeway, after which the current lanes would serve as
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 drivew ...
s. Between Loop 1 and FM 1626, the roadway becomes a tolled freeway.
The other segment is a
toll road
A toll road, also known as a turnpike or tollway, is a public or private road (almost always a controlled-access highway in the present day) for which a fee (or ''toll'') is assessed for passage. It is a form of road pricing typically implemented ...
that forms a backwards C-shape along the boundary of Travis and Williamson County before bending down along the eastern edge of the Austin metropolitan area where it shares its route with
SH-130.
Route description
Before the 2002
Central Texas Turnpike Project (CTTP), SH 45 existed only as a short section of four-lane, divided highway in southwest Austin. The CTTP added a
toll road
A toll road, also known as a turnpike or tollway, is a public or private road (almost always a controlled-access highway in the present day) for which a fee (or ''toll'') is assessed for passage. It is a form of road pricing typically implemented ...
that runs east from
US 183 near
Cedar Park, crosses
I-35
Interstate 35 (I-35) is a major Interstate Highway in the central United States. As with most primary Interstates that end in a five, it is a major cross-country, north–south route. It stretches from Laredo, Texas, near the Mexican border ...
, bi-secting the
La Frontera development, and meets
SH 130 near
Pflugerville
Pflugerville ( ) is a city in Travis County, Texas, United States, with a small portion in Williamson County. The population was 65,191 at the 2020 census. Pflugerville is a suburb of Austin and part of the Austin–Round Rock–San Mar ...
. South of this interchange, SH 45 is co-signed with SH 130 to US 183 just south of
Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. SH 45 then loops westward rejoining I-35 north of
Buda
Buda (; german: Ofen, sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Budim, Будим, Czech and sk, Budín, tr, Budin) was the historic capital of the Kingdom of Hungary and since 1873 has been the western part of the Hungarian capital Budapest, on the ...
.
SH 45 North
SH 45 North is an approximately segment in the north Austin metropolitan area. The freeway's western terminus is at US 183 northwest of Austin in
Cedar Park. For a distance, RM 620 travels concurrently with the frontage roads also designated as State Highway 45 (non-tolled). Heading east, the freeway intercepts
Loop 1's northern terminus, bisects
La Frontera and crosses I-35. This particular segment ends at SH 130 near Pflugerville, but the SH 45 designation continues southward along SH 130.
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 ...
had originally planned to complete construction of the entire 2002 CTTP in September 2007 but opened some sections of SH 45 North as early as October 31, 2006.
SH 45 Southeast
SH 45 Southeast is a , tolled segment southeast of Austin, near
Creedmoor, Texas
Creedmoor is a city in , Texas, United States. The population was 202 at the 2010 census.
Geography
Creedmoor is located at (30.092094, –97.741954), about 15 miles south of Austin.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a ...
. Roughly paralleling
Farm to Market Road 1327
A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used fo ...
, it is a four-lane, controlled-access facility that links SH 130 and US 183 to Interstate 35 north of
Buda, Texas. It completes the SH 45 eastern bypass loop around the Austin metropolitan area.
Originally planned as part of the 2002 CTTP, SH 45 Southeast became the subject of controversy, delaying development and necessitating it as a separate project. In 2006, an environmental advocacy group filed a lawsuit in an effort to move the alignment further south. By the summer of the same year, 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 a ...
approved a new environmental impact study affirming the existing alignment, and a federal judge dismissed the case, clearing the way for construction, which began in Summer 2007. SH 45 Southeast was opened to traffic on May 7, 2009.
SH 45 Southwest
SH 45 Southwest is a tollway link between the southern terminus of
Loop 1 in the west and
Farm to Market Road 1626
A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used fo ...
to the east. It is a four-lane, controlled-access facility and has a toll rate of $1. Construction on the SH 45 Southwest link officially began in November 2016, after decades of delays due to environmental and legislative concerns. SH 45 Southwest was opened to traffic on June 1, 2019. On April 25th, 2022, the highway was assigned a speed limit 70 miles per hour. From the opening of the highway until that date, the highway had no signed speed limit. The unsigned speed limit was set at the state default of 65 miles per hour, as the
CTRMA conducted studies to find the 85th percentile
operating speed.
The highway will still require a segment between FM 1626 and I-35 to connect to the other tolled segments of SH 45. This section, SH 45 South, is already included in the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (CAMPO) 2040 Plan for study. This missing link was one source of controversy surrounding the alignment of SH 45 Southeast. Opponents claimed the proximity of the southwestern and southeastern sections would create more pressure to connect the two and that, if built, the link would encourage development on or near environmentally sensitive land. Planning for the western portions of SH 45 to form a complete loop is still very early, although a proposal for possible route has already been offered by the
City of Lakeway.
History
State Highway 45 was originally designated on August 18, 1919, as a route from
Bryan
Bryan may refer to:
Places United States
* Bryan, Arkansas
* Bryan, Kentucky
* Bryan, Ohio
* Bryan, Texas
* Bryan, Wyoming, a ghost town in Sweetwater County in the U.S. state of Wyoming
* Bryan Township (disambiguation)
Facilities and structur ...
to
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 ...
border. On September 17, 1923, the section west of
Roans Prairie was cancelled. On August 11, 1925, SH 45 was rerouted through Point Blank, Coldspring and Shepherd. On March 19, 1929, a branch of SH 45 on a more direct route from Point Blank to Livingston was designated. As of March 19, 1930, large portions of the highway were still under construction along the proposed route. The section of the branch from Point Blank to Coldspring was renumbered as
SH 156 and the section of the branch from Coldspring to Shepherd was renumbered as part of SH 150, so that SH 45 went on the most direct route between Point Blank and Livingston. By 1938, the road was complete, with small portions remaining as a dirt road. On September 26, 1939, the highway from
Huntsville
Huntsville is a city in Madison County, Limestone County, and Morgan County, Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Madison County. Located in the Appalachian region of northern Alabama, Huntsville is the most populous city in th ...
to Jasper had been transferred to
U.S. Highway 190
U.S. Route 190 (US 190) is an east–west United States Highway in Louisiana and Texas. Segments of US 190 will be upgraded to Interstate 14 (I-14); the first segment was opened on January 26, 2017.
Route description
, -
, TX
,
, -
, ...
, the stretch from Jasper to the Louisiana border transferred to
SH 63, and the section from Roan's Prairie to Huntsville redirected north to
Crockett
Crockett may refer to:
People and fictional characters
*Crockett Gillmore (born 1991), American National Football League player
*Crockett Johnson, pen name of David Johnson Liesk (1906-1975), American cartoonist and children's book illustrator
*C ...
. on August 24, 1960, the stretch from Huntsville to Crockett was transferred to
SH 19. On December 15, 1960, the rest of SH 45 was canceled and transferred to
SH 30
The following highways are numbered 30:
International
* Asian Highway 30
* European route E30
Australia
* Albany Highway (State Route 30, Western Australia)
Brazil
* BR-030
Canada
* Alberta Highway 30 (defunct)
* British Columbia Highway 30 ...
to avoid confusion with I-45. The current route was designated, but not constructed, on May 22, 1985, as a proposed Austin Loop, along with
SH 130 (north of US 183 only).
SH 45A was a spur designated on September 14, 1926, from Coldspring west to New Waverly. On March 19, 1930, this spur was renumbered as
SH 150
The following highways are numbered 150:
Canada
* New Brunswick Route 150
* Prince Edward Island Route 150
* Winnipeg Route 150
Costa Rica
* National Route 150
India
* National Highway 150 (India)
Japan
* Japan National Route 150
United Sta ...
.
On February 11, 2021, icy conditions caused a 26 vehicle pile-up. This incident occurred near the overpass with
RM 620
Ranch to Market Road 620 (RM 620) is a ranch to market road in the U.S. state of Texas maintained by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT). The road begins at SH 71 in Bee Cave in Travis County west of Austin passing along southe ...
. Three people were hospitalized.
The interchange at
I-35
Interstate 35 (I-35) is a major Interstate Highway in the central United States. As with most primary Interstates that end in a five, it is a major cross-country, north–south route. It stretches from Laredo, Texas, near the Mexican border ...
was partially affected by the
March 21, 2022 tornado outbreak when a large light pole was ripped off its foundation, the debris resting on the side of a flyover, as seen from photos captured by
KXAN-TV.
Exit list
References
Further reading
*
*
*Wear, Ben
Fifth toll road clears legal hurdles ''Austin American-Statesman'', accessed December 14, 2006.
*
External links
*
TxTag: Austin Area Toll RoadsSH 45 Southwest
{{Toll Roads in Texas
045
045
Transportation in Austin, Texas
Transportation in Williamson County, Texas
Transportation in Travis County, Texas
Beltways in the United States
Transportation in Hays County, Texas