Loop 360 is a

loop 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 Int ...

in Austin in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

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 ...

. Loop 360 is a scenic

highway A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It is used for major roads, but also includes other public roads and public tracks. In some areas of the United States, it is used as an equivalent term to controlled-acces ...

winding through the hills of West Austin. The road is described by 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) as "a 4-lane depressed median arterial with at-grade signalized intersections." In 2021, the average daily traffic was 58,497 vehicles at the most traveled point, north of RM 2222.

History

Loop 360 was designated on March 29, 1962 on its current route from US 290 to US 183. On September 30, 1969, Loop 360 was extended north to Loop 1. On April 25, 1996, the section from US 183 to Loop 1 was cancelled and removed from the state highway system. The south section of Loop 360 from US 290 to RM 2244 was opened on February 11, 1970. The last section of roadway for Loop 360 (excepting the bridge) between RM 2244 and FM 2222 was approved on September 30, 1976. The north and south sections of Loop 360 were connected when the

Pennybacker Bridge The Percy V. Pennybacker Jr. Bridge in Austin, Texas, is a through-arch bridge across Lake Austin which connects the northern and southern sections of the Loop 360 highway, also known as the "Capital of Texas Highway." The road is widely consid ...

was opened for traffic on December 3, 1982. On February 19, 1980 the

Travis County Travis County is located in south central Texas. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,290,188. It is the fifth-most populous county in Texas. Its county seat is Austin, the capital of Texas. The county was established in 1840 and is n ...

commissioners voted to designate it the "Capital of Texas Highway." On July 14, 2004, the

Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization The Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (CAMPO) is the federally mandated metropolitan planning organization (MPO) responsible for comprehensive transportation planning in the Austin, Texas, USA area, including Williamson, Travis, H ...

(CAMPO) changed segments of the future designation to 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 (fee), toll'') is assessed for passage. It is a form of road pricing typically ...

, despite popular outcry. However, toll conversion of the road is unfunded so plans to toll Loop 360 are delayed indefinitely and there remains substantial opposition to any toll conversion of the road from residents and environmentalists. Also, CAMPO has begun to re-examine the toll roll designation. The road should remain toll-free for at least the near-future. On December 6, 2006, the ''Mobility Alternatives Finance Study'
final report
commissioned by the City of Austin and other central Texas municipalities noted the poor financial feasibility of toll conversion by stating "Loop 360's toll revenue funds the smallest share of its construction cost (7%)" given a construction cost of $741 million with revenue bonds backed by future tolling of Loop 360 contributing just $51.8 million (in 2006 dollars).

Historical markers

There are three historical markers along Loop 360. "The Johnson Smokehouse" marker is at the entrance to the Woods of Westlake Heights subdivision, just south of Westbank Drive. The marker commemorates the Johnson Ranch. Charles Johnson, a native of Sweden, procured the original 124 acre (0.5 km²) ranch on the south side of present-day Loop 360 in 1867. The

smokehouse A smokehouse (North American) or smokery (British) is a building where meat or fish is cured with smoke. The finished product might be stored in the building, sometimes for a year or more.

beside the marker was relocated from the original ranch house site. According to the marker, the smokehouse was painstakingly catalogued, stone by stone, disassembled and restored to its original state." The smokehouse's tin roof is built with tin salvaged from the temporary Texas capitol building that burned down in 1899. The "Eanes-Marshall Ranch" marker is at the Loop 360 entrance to Saint John Neumann Catholic Church. Alexander Eanes (1806–1888) acquired the property for the ranch by 1857. Alexander later sold the ranch to his brother, Robert Eanes (1805–1895) after the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

. Robert sold the ranch to his son-in-law, Hudson Boatner Marshall (1862–1951) in 1883. A log cabin built on the ranch was the first Eanes school and the surrounding community assumed the Eanes name. The "Balcones Fault Aids Colonization of Texas" historical marker is north of Bull Creek on the west side of Loop 360. It commemorates the role that the Balcones Fault played in the Anglo-American settlement of Texas.

Route description

The road runs roughly north–south, arcing slightly out to the west. Listing the major intersections going south to north, Loop 360 begins at

US 290 U.S. Route 290 (US 290) is an east–west U.S. Highway located entirely within the state of Texas. Its western terminus is at Interstate 10 southeast of Segovia, and its eastern terminus is at Interstate 610 in northwest Houston. It is the ...

/ SH 71, then crosses Loop 1 (Mopac Expressway), then crosses RM 2244 (a.k.a. Bee Cave Road), then bridges the

Colorado River The Colorado River ( es, Río Colorado) is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The river drains an expansive, arid watershed that encompasses parts of seven U.S. s ...

at the

, then crosses RM 2222, then terminates at

US 183 U.S. Route 183 (US 183) is a north–south United States highway. The highway's northern terminus is in Presho, South Dakota, at an intersection with Interstate 90. Its southern terminus is in Refugio, Texas, at the southern intersectio ...

. The entire length of Loop 360 is . An extension of that connects the northern end of Loop 360 with Loop 1 was once considered part of the Loop but has since been removed from the state highway system. The segment of Loop 360 south of US 183 is designated a scenic roadway by the City of Austin. The road is popular with cyclists because of the road's hills, wide shoulders for biking, and bike access across the Pennybacker Bridge. Because of the hilly terrain on the east side of the road, with right timing and clear weather, a traveler on loop 360 in early morning can enjoy multiple sunrise scenes, the most spectacular one can be seen from the

over

Lake Austin Lake Austin, formerly Lake McDonald, is a water reservoir on the Colorado River in Austin, Texas. The reservoir was formed in 1939 by the construction of Tom Miller Dam by the Lower Colorado River Authority. Lake Austin is one of the seven Hi ...

. The road has rock cut-throughs as well as steep fills and has steep roadway grades, 6% to 7% in some areas. The road cuts through environmentally sensitive watersheds. It bridges Barton Creek just south of Loop 1 and runs along the east side of the

Barton Creek Greenbelt The Barton Creek Greenbelt located in Austin, Texas is managed by the City of Austin's Park and Recreation Department. The Greenbelt is a stretch of public land that begins at Zilker Park and stretches South/Southwest to the final section commo ...

. Northward, it passes to the west of Wild Basin Wilderness Preserve. Just after the Wild Basin entrance, drivers and bikers can pull into a scenic vista and take in a view of downtown Austin including the state capitol building and

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

Tower. Further north, Loop 360 crosses the Colorado River and enters the Bull Creek Watershed and crosses Bull Creek. Land use restrictions along Loop 360 help preserve Loop 360's Hill Country aesthetic.

Proposed modifications

In an attempt to alleviate traffic along Loop 360 TxDOT has considered turning the road into a toll road, making it a freeway with an overpass or adding Michigan left turns. The latter is favored by TxDOT but opposed by nearby residents.

Junction list

References

{{Austin Streets 360 Transportation in Austin, Texas Transportation in Travis County, Texas