I-69 in TX

[wxfree]

From the 3-26-15 agenda:

Harris County - Designate a segment of the state highway system as I-69, concurrent with US 59 from the existing I-69 termini at I-610 North and I-610 West in the city of Houston (MO) (Presentation)
This minute order designates a segment of the state highway system as I-69, concurrent with US 59 from the existing I-69 termini at I-610 North and I-610 West in the city of Houston, a distance of approximately 11.9 miles. This action will complete the designation of I-69 in Houston and points north to the Montgomery/Liberty county line and south to Rosenberg for a continuous 75 miles. The Houston-Galveston Area Council, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, and the Federal Highway Administration have approved the designation of this segment.

The wording is a little strange, and I hope the minute order wording is better, but the intention is clear.

[NE2]

How is the wording strange? It runs from the north leg of I-610 to the west leg of I-610.

[wxfree]

How is the wording strange? It runs from the north leg of I-610 to the west leg of I-610.

It runs but from two places, "from the existing... termini."  All the designations I've seen start at one place and end at another.  If I read from the description, "from the existing I-69 termini at I-610 North and I-610 West in the city of Houston, a distance of approximately 11.9 miles," I would interpret that as meaning along the northbound lanes of US 59 from the I-69 terminus at I-610 West for a distance of 11.9 miles and along the southbound lanes of US 59 from the I-69 terminus at I-610 North for a distance of 11.9 miles.

It's the wording of the minute order that really matters, and those are usually available online on Monday, but occasionally on Friday.

[NE2]

Yeah, I guess so. But truck trarffic.

[thefro]

TxDOT has issued a Notice of Public Hearing for a 10.5 mile US 59 to I-69 upgrade from Spur 10 to CR 227 ....
Here is a snip of the Project Location Map:

Remarkably, this article reports that the Spur 10 to Darst Road section of this project could begin (I assume this means actual construction) this year:

The Houston-Galveston Area Council is making stops in various communities to share information on road projects that will begin this year as a result of the adoption of Proposition 1 in November.
Officials with the H-GAC hosted an open house at the Rosenberg Civic Center recently to share information on three key mobility projects that will impact portions of Fort Bend County.
Those projects include a two-mile stretch of U.S. 90A between the Grand Parkway and Texas 6; a four-mile segment of FM 2234 between FM 521 and the Fort Bend Parkway, and Interstate 69 between Spur 10 and Darst Road.
Alan Clark, H-GAC director of transportation and planning, said many of the projects have been on the regional transportation wish list for many years, and many of them were also a long way from being considered ....
The Interstate 69 project is among those considered high-impact, and comes with an estimated price tag of $93 million.
According to the project details, the plans call for widening I-69 from four to six lanes between Spur 10 and Darst Road as well as adding auxiliary lanes and two-lane frontage roads along that same 7.5-mile segment.
The improvements would upgrade I-69 to full interstate standards, and improve safety and mobility, Clark said.
"This was in our regional plan for 2035, so we are speeding this up 20 years," Clark said ....

Amazing what a little bit of Prop 1 money can do.

This article says construction will start later this year and the plan is to complete it by 2018

Officials with the Texas Department of Transportation hosted a public hearing at Beasley Elementary School to discuss the planned expansion of a 10-mile stretch between County Road 227 in Wharton County and Spur 10 in Fort Bend County.

Nearly 100 residents filled seats inside the school gym on March 5, hoping to learn what effect the project could have on their community.

"The project will upgrade the current facility to freeway standards," said Patrick Gant, TxDOT project manager for the I-69 project.

The plan, which will begin later this year, calls for upgrading the roadway to interstate standards by adding an additional main lane in both directions widening the main lanes to 12 feet and adding 12-foot shoulders; crossover intersections at Darst Road, Grunwald Road and Daily Road will be eliminated, and the existing two-way feeder lanes would be converted to one-way feeder lanes.

Other proposed improvements include adding a 14-foot curbed lane at FM 2919 and FM 360 to provide a safer crossing area for bicyclists and pedestrians.

The project will require at least 2.69 acres of additional right-of-way, with no displacement of any business or resident.

"Once completed I-69 will include six main lanes - three lanes in each direction, a grassy median and concrete barriers," Gant said.

The total cost of the construction is projected at $146 million, and is expected to be completed by the fall of 2018.

[Perfxion]

From the 3-26-15 agenda:

Harris County - Designate a segment of the state highway system as I-69, concurrent with US 59 from the existing I-69 termini at I-610 North and I-610 West in the city of Houston (MO) (Presentation)
This minute order designates a segment of the state highway system as I-69, concurrent with US 59 from the existing I-69 termini at I-610 North and I-610 West in the city of Houston, a distance of approximately 11.9 miles. This action will complete the designation of I-69 in Houston and points north to the Montgomery/Liberty county line and south to Rosenberg for a continuous 75 miles. The Houston-Galveston Area Council, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, and the Federal Highway Administration have approved the designation of this segment.

The wording is a little strange, and I hope the minute order wording is better, but the intention is clear.

Reading that, I-69 will be labeled over US 59 within the I-610 loop. Makes sense because its silly having to change names when giving directions to get to the Houston Rodeo.

[nolia_boi504]

I-69 should finally be designated in the inner loop Thursday, 3/26


http://blog.chron.com/thehighwayman/2015/03/i-69-coming-through-houston-though-few-likely-to-notice/

[thefro]

Do we have an idea of what SIUs are actually under construction or scheduled in Texas?

I'd like to update the Wikipedia article on I-69, which says there's only 2 SIUs under construction nationally now.

[Grzrd]

Do we have an idea of what SIUs are actually under construction or scheduled in Texas?

This map summarizing the status of Texas I-69 projects is current as of September 1, 2014.

[ethanhopkin14]

I-69 should finally be designated in the inner loop Thursday, 3/26


http://blog.chron.com/thehighwayman/2015/03/i-69-coming-through-houston-though-few-likely-to-notice/

The shield in that article is hideous!!!

[nolia_boi504]

The 11.9 mile section of US 59 inside of Loop 610 in Houston has been added to the Interstate Highway System as Interstate 69. All of the route through Harris County is now part of I-69 and a continuous section of 75 miles of I-69 is now in place through Montgomery County, Harris County and extending to a point at the south edge of Rosenberg in Fort bend County. The Texas Transportation Commission voted March 26 to complete the designation process for the section through central Houston.

Source:
http://www.i69texasalliance.com/

[codyg1985]

I am a little confused by the process that has been used to get I-69 signed through Texas. I thought interstate signage was to be approved by AASHTO and FHWA before it can be signed? It seems like the TTC can vote to sign it, and then the signs appear, without any federal input.

[Grzrd]

I am a little confused by the process that has been used to get I-69 signed through Texas. I thought interstate signage was to be approved by AASHTO and FHWA before it can be signed? It seems like the TTC can vote to sign it, and then the signs appear, without any federal input.

TTC approval is typically the final formality for the designation, as the approved Minute Order reflects in this situation:

This minute order designates a segment of the state highway system as I-69, concurrent with US 59 from the existing I-69 termini at I-610 North and I-610 West in the city of Houston, a distance of approximately 11.9 miles. This action will complete the designation of I-69 in Houston and points north to the Montgomery/Liberty county line and south to Rosenberg for a continuous 75 miles. The Houston-Galveston Area Council, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) have approved the designation of this segment.

[cenlaroads]

Does anyone know whether they are planning to keep at-grade intersections for ranch access on I-69E in rural south Texas, as was done on I-10 in west Texas?  I could not find any earlier discussion on this, so I apologize if I missed it.

[nolia_boi504]

I am a little confused by the process that has been used to get I-69 signed through Texas. I thought interstate signage was to be approved by AASHTO and FHWA before it can be signed? It seems like the TTC can vote to sign it, and then the signs appear, without any federal input.

AASHTO and FHWA both approved this last year, I believe. The article in my post from yesterday mentions this.

[vtk]

Does anyone know whether they are planning to keep at-grade intersections for ranch access on I-69E in rural south Texas, as was done on I-10 in west Texas?  I could not find any earlier discussion on this, so I apologize if I missed it.

I believe the plan is to build very short stretches of frontage road to serve those ranch driveways.

[Grzrd]

Does anyone know whether they are planning to keep at-grade intersections for ranch access on I-69E in rural south Texas, as was done on I-10 in west Texas?  I could not find any earlier discussion on this, so I apologize if I missed it.

I believe the plan is to build very short stretches of frontage road to serve those ranch driveways.

Some vintage prior discussion can be found beginning with this post, which includes this link to an Alliance for I-69 Texas discussion of the frontage roads:

An interesting element of the schematic plans included in the EA is the way ranch access is to be accomplished in the 42-mile passage through Kenedy County where there are no public roads crossing US 77. This highway passes through sections of the King Ranch, the Kenedy Ranch and the Armstrong Ranch, all of which span the highway and the adjacent Union Pacific Railroad. Brief sections of access road will be built near ranch gates to allow traffic on and off the freeway lanes. Overpasses will be built at intervals of 5 to 10 miles to allow traffic to reverse direction. Below is a simplified drawing of a ranch gate access point. This arrangement will avoid the need to build long stretches of dual frontage roads that have little transportation value.

Also, an even earlier brief discussion took place shortly after the Draft Environmental Assessment was issued.

[cenlaroads]

Ah, thanks.  That looks like a good way to handle access, assuming that it is necessary to make the road 100% limited-access.  It still seems like a waste of money, considering that at-grade intersections have been previously allowed in situations like this.

[vtk]

It still seems like a waste of money, considering that at-grade intersections have been previously allowed in situations like this.

Yeah, half a century ago.  The feds are slightly less flexible these days.

[kkt]

I understand having the exit there, but why the short length of 2-lane sandwiched in between the 1-lane sections?

[Bobby5280]

Maybe the 2 lane section is in case there is more than one at grade turn/entrance. Through traffic could stay left and turning traffic would slow down in the right lane.

Regarding at grade turns on I-10 in West Texas, where are any of those? There's a lot of frontage road running on one or both sides of I-10 for stretches where entrances are needed into ranches and/or oil & gas drilling property.

One Interstate highway at grade turn (a driveway actually) I pass from time to time: a residence right off I-44 in Oklahoma just before the Red River bridge. That has been there well before the highway was designated as an Interstate.

[OCGuy81]

I understand having the exit there, but why the short length of 2-lane sandwiched in between the 1-lane sections?

I was wondering the same thing.  A single lane ramp to frontage road to ramp would suffice, I'd imagine.

[bassoon1986]

Maybe the 2 lane section is in case there is more than one at grade turn/entrance. Through traffic could stay left and turning traffic would slow down in the right lane.

Regarding at grade turns on I-10 in West Texas, where are any of those? There's a lot of frontage road running on one or both sides of I-10 for stretches where entrances are needed into ranches and/or oil & gas drilling property.

One Interstate highway at grade turn (a driveway actually) I pass from time to time: a residence right off I-44 in Oklahoma just before the Red River bridge. That has been there well before the highway was designated as an Interstate.

I'm looking for that on Google maps and can't find it. Is it I-44 westbound on the Oklahoma side?

[texaskdog]

I like the ones in South Dakota and Wyoming.  They try their best to make them look like exits

[dfwmapper]

2 obvious reasons why it might be 2 lanes. First, if development ever happens there and they decide to build continuous frontage roads. Second, if they're reusing the existing pavement for the exit and laying down new pavement for the mainline, no point in tearing out the old.

The direct access to the freeway is on I-40, not I-10, e.g. http://goo.gl/maps/cOMM6.