Texas

[Bobby5280]

The I-27 concept is what I would have expected -something that effectively gives San Antonio a North-South Interstate route up to the Texas Panhandle. That would have involved a more diagonal route going from San Angelo to Junction, TX -where I-10 would continue that same diagonal path. Now the long term I-27 plan is to go straight South from San Angelo to Del Rio, Eagle Pass and Laredo.

Regarding the Capital Freeway concept and the US-290 vs TX-71 scenario: both the Austin and Houston metro regions have such large populations now that BOTH corridors warrant being fully upgraded to Interstate standards. West of Austin there is just US-290. I think that definitely should be brought up to Interstate standards. It's just going to be a struggle pushing extensions of the US-290 freeway farther West thru Dripping Springs and out to the US-281 corridor.

The Panhandle Freeway concept might explain why large chunks of US-287 between Wichita Falls and Decatur were built with huge, freeway-sized medians. A Wichita Falls-Fort Worth Interstate is very long overdue. Pretty much all of US-287 between Amarillo and Fort Worth outdoes existing I-27 in AADT counts.

Valley Freeway: This was constructed soon after this document as US 83 and is now also signed as I-2. I don't know if I-2 is proposed to extend from the south Valley at Roma to Laredo. I know that section is slated for interim upgrades but not freeway quality.

Going by the exit numbers used on I-2 it certainly looks like a "west" terminus in Laredo is at least an aspirational goal.

The bypass now in planning and early construction for the Roma-Rio Grande City area won't initially be a freeway, but it is being built in an upgrade-friendly manner. The crucial thing is TX DOT and state officials have to clamp down hard as hell on ROW protection. They can't get lax and allow local developers to start building a bunch of shit right next to the road and connect driveways and side streets into it.

[jakeroot]

Having just moved to Texas from the Pacific Northwest, via Amarillo (from the NM border) and Lubbock, I was pretty stunned to find out there is no freeway connection to the 10 south of Lubbock. Just a bunch of at-grade US routes.

I'm not just saying this living down here, but I feel like the Westex Freeway is the most glaring ommission, primarily because (a) it was partially already built, and (b) the decision not to continue I-27 down to the 10 left Amarillo and Lubbock isolated from the rest of Texas (although not if you go through OKC of course). Every part of Texas would be connected by intrastate freeways if the Westex had been finished.

[achilles765]

Having just moved to Texas from the Pacific Northwest, via Amarillo (from the NM border) and Lubbock, I was pretty stunned to find out there is no freeway connection to the 10 south of Lubbock. Just a bunch of at-grade US routes.

I'm not just saying this living down here, but I feel like the Westex Freeway is the most glaring ommission, primarily because (a) it was partially already built, and (b) the decision not to continue I-27 down to the 10 left Amarillo and Lubbock isolated from the rest of Texas (although not if you go through OKC of course). Every part of Texas would be connected by intrastate freeways if the Westex had been finished.

It really does make those cities feel so disconnected from the rest of the state. I would also add to that list Wichita Falls as well. They are so far away and not connected by any continuous freeway/interstate.
In a way, El Paso can kind of feel like that too but thats just because of the sheer vast distance it is from ANYTHING...but at least its connected via IH-10

[MaxConcrete]

I found this presentation prepared in July for projects in Cameron County (south tip of Texas at Padre Island and Starbase).

This presentation pertains to many projects so I'm posting it in this thread.

Page 4: Shows the Outer Parkway, I-69 connector, SH 104 SPI 2nd Access (proposed bridge), and East Loop
Page 14: Says the SH 104 preliminary engineering is 98% complete and environmental clearance anticipated in 2027. Bridge is 8 miles long and total project is 17.6 miles. No mention of where the money will come from.
Page 19: Says SH 550 (I-169) gap 2 project is scheduled to start construction in FY28
Page 20: The addition of two direct connect ramps is under study at SH 550 and I-69E
Pages 21 and 22: East Loop. I think this will need to be expedited to serve SpaceX and Saronic
Page 28: I-69 status
Page 60: cost estimates. The proposed Padre Island bridge is listed at $800 million. This cost suggests a two lane bridge.

There is no detail page for the $206 million SH 4 widening to Starbase, which is slated to receive bids in July 2027.