State Highway 349 (SH 349) is a state highway in the western part of

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 ...

, United States.

History

The original formation of the highway on August 3, 1943 included only the section from Rankin to Midland, replacing FM 9. On April 30, 1947, FM 306 and FM 177 were redesignated to form the segment of SH 349 from Midland to near Lamesa. The section from

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire a ...

to Rankin was added on October 24, 1956 by redesignating part of SH 51. The part of SH 349 south of Sheffield was Farm to Market Road 1217, which was designated on July 14, 1949 from

Dryden '' John Dryden (; – ) was an English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who in 1668 was appointed England's first Poet Laureate. He is seen as dominating the literary life of Restoration England to such a point that the per ...

northward . FM 1217 was extended to the northeast on May 23, 1951, on December 18, 1951, on December 17, 1952, and on April 24, 1954. The designation was extended on September 29, 1954 to the end of FM 1749, which was cancelled and combined with FM 1217, adding and bringing its southern terminus to Sheffield. On December 13, 1956, FM 1217 was signed, but not designated, as part of SH 349. On August 29, 1990, FM 1217 was officially renumbered as SH 349. On July 31, 2003, SH 349 was rerouted around Midland. In December 2014, the Texas Transportation Commission approved an extension of the SH 349 designation south of Lamesa, from the current northern terminus at SH 137 eastward to

US 87 U.S. Highway 87 (US 87) is a north–south United States highway (though it is signed east–west in New Mexico) that runs for 1,998 miles (3,215 km) from northern Montana to southern Texas, making it the longest north-south roa ...

. , this segment has not been constructed. Construction of the extension started in May 2017 and was completed just over two years later in mid-2019.

Route description

SH 349 runs generally northward from its originating junction with U.S. Highway 90 at the tiny town of

(population 13) near the Rio Grande, the southern border of the state. The road passes west of Fort Lancaster to

and a junction with Interstate 10. SH 349 then runs along the Pecos River to Iraan, where it is co-routed for a few miles with U.S. Highway 190. The road then proceeds northward to a junction and brief co-routing with U.S. Highway 67 at Rankin. SH 349 continues northward to the relatively heavily populated area of Midland. SH 349 formerly bisected Midland directly through the city center. However, the highway has been redesignated to loop around Midland to the west, by co-routing it with portions of Interstate 20 (and State Highway 158) and Farm to Market Road 1788. A new section of highway, a so-called "reliever route", was opened on December 10, 2009, and was named the Nadine and Tom Craddick Highway after State Rep. Tom Craddick and his wife, who played a large role in creating the highway. (This new section of SH 349 is part of the " La Entrada al Pacifico Corridor" trade route from west Texas to

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

). The portion of SH 349 that ran directly through Midland was redesignated as Business State Highway 349-C (BS 349-C) in 2003. North of Midland, SH 349 proceeds generally northward to its final junction with State Highway 137, just south of Lamesa. Counties traversed by the highway include Terrell, Pecos, Crockett, Upton, Midland,

Martin Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Austr ...

and Dawson. With the exception of the metropolitan area of Midland, most of the terrain covered by the highway is sparsely populated

ranch 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 ofte ...

country.

Business routes

SH 349 has one business route.

Martin-Midland business loop

Business State Highway 349-C (Bus. SH 349-C) is a business loop that runs on the former routing of SH 349 through Midland. The route was designated in 2003 when SH 349 was re-routed around the city. ;Junction list

Junction list

References

External links

{{osmrelation, 572770, Texas State Highway 349
Texas official travel map
at 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 ...

(enlargement required for legibility)
Construction notice for new portion of SH 349 to complete loop to the western side of Midland

349 __NOTOC__ Year 349 ( CCCXLIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Limenius and Catullinus (or, less frequently, year 1102 ...

Transportation in Dawson County, Texas Transportation in Martin County, Texas Transportation in Midland County, Texas Transportation in Upton County, Texas Transportation in Crockett County, Texas Transportation in Pecos County, Texas Transportation in Terrell County, Texas