State Highway 40 (SH 40) or William D. Fitch Parkway, runs from

Farm to Market Road 2154 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 ...

(FM 2154) to SH 6 in College Station,

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 current SH 40 was authorized in 1994. Signage for the highway went up March 2006 and the road was officially opened June 23, 2006. SH 40 occupies the overpass and intersection with SH 6 that was formerly Greens Prairie Road, which was truncated and connected to SH 40 by Arrington Road West of SH 6. Greens Prairie Road and SH 40 were renamed in honor of William D. Fitch in August 2006. At SH 6, SH 40 terminates and becomes a local road (maintaining the Fitch Parkway name) continuing northeast 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 ...

Route description

SH 40 begins at an intersection with FM 2154 (Wellborn Road) in College Station, Brazos County, heading southeast on William D. Fitch Parkway, a four-lane undivided road. The road heads near residential subdivisions, becoming a

divided highway A dual carriageway ( BE) or divided highway ( AE) is a class of highway with carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation (BrE) or median (AmE). Roads with two or more carriageways which are ...

with the median widening to include woodland. The highway heads through more wooded areas with some fields and residential neighborhoods, turning to the east. SH 40 turns to the northeast and the median narrows, with the road becoming undivided again as it comes to its eastern terminus at an interchange with SH 6.

History

A previous highway, also called SH 40, existed from March 17, 1919 until September 26, 1939, and ran from the Texas-

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 ...

boundary north of Gainesville down through Denton,

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

and

Beaumont Beaumont may refer to: Places Canada * Beaumont, Alberta * Beaumont, Quebec England * Beaumont, Cumbria * Beaumont, Essex ** Beaumont Cut, a canal closed in the 1930s * Beaumont Street, Oxford France (communes) * Beaumont, Ardèche * ...

before ending in Sabine Pass. On March 18, 1919, a

spur route A spur route is a short road forming a branch from a longer, more important road such as a freeway, Interstate Highway, or motorway. A bypass or beltway should not be considered a true spur route as it typically reconnects with another or the s ...

, SH 40A that went from Denton and ended in

Fort Worth Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...

was designated, so SH 40A and the route of SH 40 north of Dallas replaced SH 16. On August 21, 1923, this spur had become an extension of SH 10. That same day, SH 40 was truncated to Voth (north of Beaumont), with the section from Voth to Beaumont already part of SH 8 and the section from Beaumont to Sabine Pass cancelled. SH 40 was rerouted over a portion of SH 37 between Rusk and southeast of Lufkin, while the old route was either cancelled or transferred to SH 37. On May 22, 1933, SH 40 Spur was created to Baxter. On January 24, 1938, SH 40 Loop was designated to Keltys. On April 19, 1938, SH 40 Bypass was designated from SH 40 to SH 114. On June 21, 1938, SH 40 Spur was designated to

Forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

. The Gainesville to Dallas portion became

US 77 U.S. Route 77 (US 77) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway which extends for in the central United States. As of 2005, Its southern terminus is in Brownsville, Texas, at Veteran's International Bridge on the Mexican border, whe ...

in 1929. In 1932, the Dallas to

Jacksonville Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

stretch had become part of

US 175 U.S. Highway 175 (US 175) is a east-west United States Numbered Highway located completely within the state of Texas. It comes very close to meeting its parent route, U.S. Route 75 in Texas, US 75, but decommissioning and rerouting in Downt ...

. The last remaining portion of old SH 40, Jacksonville to Port Arthur, became part of

US 69 U.S. Route 69 (US 69) is a major north–south United States highway. When it was first created, it was only long, but it has since been expanded into a Minnesota to Texas cross-country route. The highway's southern terminus (as well as ...

in 1934. On September 26, 1939, SH 40 was cancelled in favor of these US Highways. The SH 40 Loop and SH 40 Spur routes were renumbered as

Loop 12 Loop 12 is a state highway that runs mostly within the city limits of Dallas, Texas. The western segment of the loop is named after General Walton Walker, who served and died in South Korea. During the 1950s and 1960s, Loop 12 was the outer be ...

(Dallas), Spur 29 (Forest), Loop 36 (Keltys), and Spur 65 (Baxter). SH 40A was a spur route proposed on September 16, 1926 going from St. Augustine south to Zavalla. This route was actually designated as SH 8B instead(now

SH 147 The following highways are numbered 147: Canada * Prince Edward Island Route 147 * Quebec Route 147 Costa Rica * National Route 147 India * National Highway 147 (India) Japan * Japan National Route 147 * Fukuoka Prefectural Route 147 * Na ...

). Interstates 35E and 35W roughly follow the old SH 40 routes from Dallas and Fort Worth, respectively, to Denton, and the old route from Denton north is approximated by

Interstate 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 ...

Major intersections

References

{{reflist 040 Transportation in Brazos County, Texas