State Highway 186 (SH 186) is a

state highway A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either ''numbered'' or ''maintained'' by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered by a ...

located in the

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 ...

of the U.S. state of

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 ...

. The route connects

US 281 U.S. Route 281 (US 281) is a north–south United States Numbered Highway. At it is the longest continuous three-digit U.S. Route. The highway's northern terminus is at the International Peace Garden, north of Dunseith, North Dakota, at t ...

(Future

I-69C Interstate 69C (I-69C) is a north–south freeway running through South Texas. Once complete, the freeway (with connections to Mexican Federal Highway 97) will begin at I-2/ U.S. Highway 83 (US 83) in Pharr and head northward ...

) to the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin, ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of ...

at Port Mansfield.

Route description

SH 186 begins in the Hidalgo County community of

Linn Linn may refer to: People * Linn (surname) * Linn (given name) * Linn da Quebrada, stage name of Brazilian singer, actress, screenwriter and television personality Lina Pereira dos Santos (born 1990) Places Germany * Linn (Gangkofen), a part ...

at an intersection with US 281 (Future

); the roadway to the west of this junction is designated FM 1017. The route travels to the southeast, passing a section of the

Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge The Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge is a National Wildlife Refuge located in the Lower Rio Grande Valley region of southern Texas. It is along the northern banks and reaches of the Lower Rio Grande, north of the Mexico—Unit ...

, before turning to a more easterly path and crossing into

Willacy County Willacy County is a county in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 20,164. Its county seat is Raymondville. The county was created in 1911 and organized the next year. Willacy County comprises the Raymondville m ...

. SH 186 runs along Hidalgo Avenue in Raymondville, where it crosses I-69E / US 77. Continuing to the east, the highway passes to the south of the city of San Perlita before turning to the northeast and passing through an unincorporated section of the county. In Port Mansfield, SH 186 intersects the short FM 606 near its eastern terminus; the highway continues one block past this point before ending at

Laguna Madre The Laguna Madre is a long, shallow, hypersaline lagoon along the western coast of the Gulf of Mexico in Nueces, Kenedy, Kleberg, Willacy and Cameron Counties in Texas, United States. It is one of seven major estuaries along the Gulf Coast ...

History

SH 186 was designated on December 8, 1932 along a route from Linn to Raymondville. On July 15, 1935, the west end was shortened to the Willacy County Line. On August 1, 1936, this section was restored. On July 25, 1939, it extended east to San Perlita. On May 31, 1973, the portion of SH 186 from San Perlita southward was transferred to FM 2209. SH 186 was signed, but not designated, along FM 497 instead. SH 186 was extended to its current eastern terminus in Port Mansfield on August 29, 1990, replacing FM 497.

Major intersections

References

{{reflist

186 Year 186 ( CLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Aurelius and Glabrio (or, less frequently, year 939 ''Ab urbe co ...

Transportation in Hidalgo County, Texas Transportation in Willacy County, Texas