Thu 14 May 2009
Lubbock gets two new stretches of freeway this month
Posted by Justin under Texas , U. S. Highways[2] Comments
Lubbock, Texas has opened two new stretches of freeway in May. Phase 2 of the large Marsha Sharp freeway completed the interchange at 19th Street (where US 62 splits off) and continued the main lanes northeast and east to Avenue Q (US 84). The $131 million phase of the project started about 4 years ago. It’s still not 100% complete, as landscaping and signs are not installed yet. Additionally, no one appears to know that it is open yet, because the author was the only person on the route on a Saturday afternoon.
This view looks north at the 19th Street interchange, a few days after opening. Traffic headed eastbound on 19th gets a direct ramp to northbound US 82, and westbound 19th Street traffic gets a direct ramp to southbound US 82.
Looking northeast at the newest section of freeway as it has a junction with 4th Avenue / University Blvd. There are direct ramp connections in all directions save for those headed west on fourth. Texas Tech University’s large stadium is on the southeast side of the freeway here.
The current eastern end at Avenue Q / US 84. The construction is mostly complete to carry the freeway a mile east to the junction with IH 27, due to be completed in 2012. Unfortunately the finalized signs have not yet been installed. The freeway should be extended east from here before July 4th.
Spur 327, on the south side of Lubbock, opened at the beginning of May – but as of yet only consists of a single overpass. Construction is underway to complete the freeway westbound where it will connect Lubbock’s Loop 289 with US 62/82 in the sprawly southwestern areas of the city. Construction began in January 2008 and will end in 2010 when the freeway is complete with limited access junctions on each end.
Compare the empty freeway scenes here in West Texas with choking gridlock in the Eastern parts of the state where over 60% of the state’s population lives. TxDot is implementing an all-new-roads-are-tolled policy there while the western part of the state has it fairly easy comparatively. On that same note, the freeway bypass of the West Texas town of Guthrie (population 150) is now open.
August 3rd, 2010 at 11:45 am
Agreed. Politics means that unneeded freeways and interchanges are constructed while congestion is literally choking off the highest growing areas of the state. I lived in Lubbock 3 years and the Marsha Sharp Freeway was not necessary. There was no congestion prior to its construction. However, you have an area over 3 times the size of Lubbock north of San Antonio on 281 that desparately needs a freeway. It has become so bad at 281 and 1604 in San Antonio that at peak times the line to exit 281 goes back almost a mile and a half onto 281. Lubbock never had this problem.
October 14th, 2010 at 9:38 pm
I disagree. There was a time when San Antonio didn’t really need North Loop 1604 to be a freeway. Then people started moving in, and then the need was apparent.
Lubbock has grown faster than people realize (it’s now 280,000), and a lot of the streets can get congested. This should alleviate that.
Finally, the referenced area of 281 is environmentally sensitive according to some, so the freeway conversion may be tied up in the courts.
If you want to complain about wasteful spending, look at cities where the population has been stagnant the last 20 years, in my opinion.