U.S. Highway 83 (US 83), dedicated as the Texas Vietnam Veterans Memorial Highway, is a

U.S. Highway The United States Numbered Highway System (often called U.S. Routes or U.S. Highways) is an integrated network of roads and highways numbered within a nationwide grid in the contiguous United States. As the designation and numbering of these h ...

in the U.S. state of Texas that begins at US 77 (

Interstate 69E Interstate 69E (I-69E) is a north–south freeway running through South Texas. Once complete, the freeway will begin in Brownsville and head northward before terminating near Victoria as both I-69W and I-69E merge into I-69 toward Housto ...

, I-69E) in Brownsville and follows the

Rio Grande The Rio Grande ( and ), known in Mexico as the Río Bravo del Norte or simply the Río Bravo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The length of the Rio G ...

to Laredo, then heads north through Abilene to 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 ...

border north of Perryton, the seat of Ochiltree County. In the Lower Rio Grande Valley, US 83 is a freeway that is at or close to interstate standards from Brownsville to Peñitas. In May 2013, the Texas Department of Transportation applied to the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) to designate this section as I-2. After the Special Committee on Route Numbering initially disapproved the application, the AASHTO Board of Directors approved the I-2 designation, conditional on the concurrence of the Federal Highway Administration. On May 29, 2013, the segment of US 83 was approved as an I-69 connector using the I-2 designation extending approximately from Harlingen to west of Mission. At a length of 906.5 mi (1,458.9 km), it is the longest numbered highway in Texas, besting the east west I-10, which runs 880 miles. It is also the longest stretch of a single US Highway within a single US state.

Route description

US 83's southern terminus is at a concurrency with I-69E/ US 77 on the south side of Brownsville at the

Brownsville – Veterans Port of Entry The Brownsville Veterans Port of Entry opened in 1999 with the completion of the Veterans International Bridge at Los Tomates. The bridge was built primarily to divert commercial freight traffic away from the busy downtown bridges, but about a t ...

at the US/Mexico border. It remains co-signed with I-69E/US 77 until Harlingen, where I-69E/US 77 makes a sharp turn northward and US 83 maintains a westerly route to

McAllen McAllen is the largest city in Hidalgo County, Texas, United States, and the 22nd-most populous city in Texas. It is located at the southern tip of the state in the Rio Grande Valley, on the Mexico–United States border. The city limits extend ...

, concurrent with I-2 until Peñitas. From there, the highway roughly parallels the

until Laredo where it makes a northwesterly turn toward Carrizo Springs, the seat of Dimmit County. The speed limit on US 83 is briefly 75 mph through Dimmit County. Merging with

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 ...

just south of downtown, US 83 remains co-signed with the interstate until an exit at

Botines ''Botines'' ( es, Bounties) was a 2005 Argentine miniseries, produced by Pol-Ka. Each episode had a specific cast, and the plot was based on a real crime, either from Argentina or another country. Diego Peretti won the Martín Fierro Award and t ...

. From there, it continues northward, intersecting with

I-10 Interstate 10 (I-10) is the southernmost cross-country highway in the American Interstate Highway System. I-10 is the fourth-longest Interstate in the United States at , following I-90, I-80, and I-40. This freeway is part of the originally pl ...

just south of

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. US 83 is co-signed with I-10 for approximately , turning northward and leaving I-10 at the Kimble County Airport. After continuing northward through several rural western Texas towns, US 83 then merges with US 84 east of Tuscola, where it makes a sharp turn back to the north. US 83/84 remains a co-signed route until Abilene, where US 84 turns to the northwest and US 83 remains northbound, merging with

US 277 U.S. Route 277 (US 277, US-277) is a north–south United States Highway that is a spur route of U.S. Route 77. It runs for 633 miles (1,019 km) across Oklahoma and Texas. US 277's northern terminus is in Newcastle, Oklahoma at I ...

on the west side of the city. US 83/277 remains a co-signed route until approximately north of Anson, where US 277 turns northeast, and US 83, northwest. After merging with US 380 in Aspermont and briefly sharing a route, US 83 continues northward, merging with US 62 in Paducah. US 83/62 continues as a co-signed route until approximately south of Wellington, where US 62 makes a sharp turn eastward, leaving US 83 to continue northward, where it crosses into Oklahoma approximately north of Perryton.

Major intersections

Gallery

File:U.S. Route 83 in Texas Hill Country IMG_4315.JPG, Scenic section of the

Texas Hill Country The Texas Hill Country is a geographic region of Central and South Texas, forming the southeast part of the Edwards Plateau. Given its location, climate, terrain, and vegetation, the Hill Country can be considered the border between the Ameri ...

north of Leakey File:Abandoned hotel and restaurant on U.S. Highway 83 IMG_1749.JPG, An abandoned hotel and restaurant (built 1926) at Catarina on US 83 near Carrizo Springs File:US Highway 83 in McAllen, Texas.jpg, U.S. Highway 83, co-signed with I-2, in a major retail district of

Notes

References