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Interstate 10 in Texas, (abbreviated I-10 or IH-10), the major east-west Interstate Highway in the Southern United States, runs east from El Paso, Texas, near the border with New Mexico, through San Antonio and Houston to the border with Louisiana near Orange, Texas. At just under 879 miles (1,406 km), the length of Interstate 10 crossing Texas, maintained by the Texas Department of Transportation, is the longest continuous untolled freeway under a single authority in North America, a title formerly held by Ontario's Highway 401. Mile marker 878 (and the corresponding exit number) near Orange are the highest numbered mile marker and exit on the interstate highway system, or for that matter, on any freeway in North America. Texas alone contains more than a third of the interstate's entire length. El Paso is 785 miles (1,263 km) from the western terminus of Interstate 10, making it closer to Los Angeles than it is to Orange, approximately 880 miles (1,416 km) away. Likewise, Orange on the Texas-Louisiana border is only 789 miles (1,270 km) from the eastern terminus of Interstate 10 in Jacksonville, Florida.
West Texas I-10 enters Texas northwest of El Paso near Anthony and travels southward, concurrent with U.S. Highway 85 and U.S. Highway 180. The U.S. 85 splits off west of El Paso with U.S. 85 heading south to the border with Mexico and I-10/U.S. 180 turning to the east towards downtown El Paso. I-10 and U.S. 180 diverge east of downtown as U.S. 180 heads off to the northeast and I-10 to the southeast. I-10 is called Gateway Boulevard in El Paso based on designations for the frontage roads. On the eastern side of the city, I-10 turns to the southeast and begins to parallel the Rio Grande and Mexican border for approximately 60 miles. I-10 leaves the Rio Grande with a primarily eastward heading. Just east of Kent, the western terminus of Interstate 20 intersects with I-10. I-20 heads northeast towards the Dallas-Fort Worth area and I-10 continues to head east. Near Junction, I-10 begins a more southeastwardly course as it heads toward the San Antonio metropolitan area. Near Comfort, I-10 and U.S. Highway 87 begin a concurrency that carries on into San Antonio. Due to I-10 transversing one of the more rural parts of the United States, it has several unique features that differentiate it from other interstate highways. Due to the relatively light traffic on the stretch from Kerr County to El Paso County, the speed limit is 80 mph (130 km/h), the highest in the nation. I-10 is one of the very few interstates that have at-grade intersections (roads that intersect it at a 90 degree angle, as opposed to an overpass with on and off ramps). These are private access roads (mostly from large ranches) which occur over a limited stretch in western Texas. San Antonio area I-10 is the busiest freeway in San Antonio with nearly 200,000 vehicles on an average day. On the northwest side, I-10 is known as the McDermott Freeway, named after Robert F. McDermott, former dean of the United States Air Force Academy as well as CEO of the USAA financial services corporation. The highway enters the city concurrent with U.S. 87 from the north and travels more in a north-south direction into downtown, rather than the east-west designation found on the interstate highway signs. The northern section from State Highway Loop 1604 to downtown serves one of the fastest growing areas of the city. A majority of the region's suburban office space is located along the corridor as are the headquarters for USAA, gasoline refiner and retailer Valero, South Texas Medical Center, the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), Six Flags Fiesta Texas, and the Shops at La Cantera. I-10 intersects Interstate 410 for the first time near Balcones Heights, a suburban city within San Antonio. The construction is nearing completion of a five level interchange to accommodate the growing northwest side. Heavy commercial development dominates the landscape between I-410 and Loop 1604. Inside I-410, the route is lined with light industrial and residential areas. As I-10 heads south into downtown, it splits into an upper level with two lanes in each direction and a lower level with three lanes in each direction. It was necessary to design the freeway this way in order to accommodate the amount of traffic heading into downtown and to fit into the narrow corridor that was surrounded by existing infrastructure. I-10 meets Interstate 35 on the northwest side of downtown and it runs concurrent with I-35 South to form the west side of the downtown loop. The I-35 exit numbers are carried through during the concurrency. I-10 and I-35 end their concurrency at a four level interchange on the southwest side of downtown with the junction of U.S. Highway 90 from the west. I-35 continues to the south and I-10 and U.S. 90 run concurrent to the east to form the south side of the downtown loop. This section of I-10 is known as the Jose Lopez Freeway, named after the Medal of Honor recipient. A four level interchange with Interstate 37 occurs approximately 2 miles (3 km) east of the I-35 interchange. I-10 heads east away from downtown through mainly residential neighborhoods on the eastside of San Antonio. I-10's concurrency with U.S 87 ends just east of downtown when U.S. 87 heads south towards Victoria. I-10 provides access to the AT&T Center, home of the San Antonio Spurs, and to the Freeman Coliseum. Leaving San Antonio, I-10 again passes the loops I-410 and Loop 1604. I-10 is known as the 90th Infantry Division Memorial Highway on this stretch east of San Antonio. I-10 and U.S. 90 continue their concurrency until they diverge in Seguin. They continue from there on to Houston nearly paralleling each other with short stints of concurrency along the route. Houston area In Houston, from the western suburb of Katy to downtown, I-10 is known as the Katy Freeway. This section is currently being widened to as much as 26 lanes (12 mainlanes, 8 lanes of access roads, and 4-6 mid-freeway HOT/HOV lanes, not counting access road turning lanes) and will be one of the widest freeways in the world. As I-10 travels through downtown, it interchanges with Interstate 45 and U.S. Highway 59, the future corridor of Interstate 69 through Texas. Both interchanges feature left exits causing several lane shifts for through traffic. I-10 provides access to Minute Maid Park, home of the Houston Astros. The section east of downtown Houston is officially known as the "East Freeway," although it is widely known by locals as the "Baytown East Freeway" due to a marketing push by Baytown, the easternmost principal city of the Greater Houston Area. In Beaumont, it is designated Eastex Freeway between both splits with U.S. Highway 69. Eastex is not to be confused with the designation for U.S. Highway 59 in Houston. West Texas Interstate 10 replaced and currently runs concurrent with U.S. Highway 85 from the New Mexico border up until the two diverge at mile marker 13. The two highways parallel each other for several miles until Highway 85 continues to head south to the border with Mexico and I-10 turns east towards El Paso. Prior to the interstate system, Highway 85 ran concurent with U.S. Highway 80 from the New Mexico border until the two diverged west of El Paso. I-10 replaced Highway 80 through El Paso and to the southeast and east to the present day junction of I-10 and Interstate 20. Highway 80 along this route has been completely removed from the highway system in favor of the I-10. At the junction with I-20, I-10 replaced U.S. Highway 290 eastward to the present day junction of I-10 and Highway 290 southeast of Junction. This section of Highway 290 was deleted from the highway system. From this point to near Comfort, I-10 replaced State Highway 27. State Highway 27 still exists along this stretch, mostly paralleling I-10 to the south. From Comfort southeast to San Antonio, I-10 directly replaced U.S. Highway 87. San Antonio area I-10 generally follows the alignment of U.S. 87 on the northwest side of San Antonio into downtown. A new alignment was built to the south of downtown for the freeway since it was impossible to upgrade the surface streets in downtown that U.S. 87 and U.S. 90 followed prior to the interstate highway system. Southeast of downtown, I-10 curves back to the northeast to connect with pre-interstate alignment of U.S. 90. Constructions of portions of I-10 were well underway and completed prior to the commissioning of the highway in 1959. The section from Culebra Road to Woodlawn Road opened as the first freeway in San Antonio in 1949, but was signed as U.S. 87. Expansion and construction continued in the 1950s, but the bulk of the construction occurred in the 1960s after the interstate was commissioned. The current alignment was completed by 1968. Rapid growth in San Antonio has resulted in the original highway becoming quickly inadequate, resulting in the highway being in perpetual construction and expansion. In the 1980s the portion just northwest of downtown was reconstructed to add a double deck feature to expand the freeway to five lanes in each direction. In 1990, the interstate had only two lanes in each direction from Loop 1604 to where the double deck freeway begins near downtown. Construction is currently underway to expand the freeway to five lanes in each direction from just outside the I-410 loop all the way into downtown. The I-10 and I-410 interchange is also being reconstucted into a five-level stack interchange. Houston area As part of the counstruction of Interstate 10 in the 1960s, the Katy Freeway was named for the connection to Katy from Houston. Because West Houston was empty farmland, the freeway was made small and simple for its drivers. Not counting the side lanes, it was only 6-8 lanes wide, which compared to many other freeways in Houston, was tiny. Despite the small size of the freeway at the time, population growth in the area had caused considerable traffic congestion. By 2001, the AADT was 238,000 vehicles just west of the West Loop. It wasn't until 2000 that the Katy Freeway had to upgrade. It had become inadequate due to the increased traffic and West Houston's bustling communities. In 2002, the old railway had been demolished and the area was cleared for the freeway's renovation. In 2004, construction began on the freeway. Planned to be at least 16 lanes wide, the new stretch would have to hold up to 200,000 people per day. Two highway intersections would have to be built (Beltway 8 & I-610), toll booths would be a new addition, including major landscaping as part of Houston's Highway Beautification Project. The first completed sections, from just west of Highway 6 to the Fort Bend/Harris county line, opened in late June 2006. As of September 2006, most of the freeway between Beltway 8 and State Highway 6 has been laid, while the strech to Washington Avenue inside I-610 will be completed later. The majority of the freeway will be completed by 2008, with total completion by 2009. Cities Bolded cities are officially-designated control cities for signs. Populations numbers are from the U.S. Census of 2000 or 2005 U.S. Census estimates; cities are listed west to east which had a population greater than 2,000 people. Auxillary Routes Interstate 10 has three auxillary routes in Texas. One is an unsigned spur in El Paso, the other two are loops of the cities of San Antonio and Houston. - Interstate 110 is an unsigned 0.92 mile (1.5 km) spur route in El Paso extending from Interstate 10 south to State Highway Loop 375 at the Rio Grande. The route is signed as U.S. Route 54. Interstate 110 provides access from Interstate 10 to the Bridge of the Americas, which spans the Rio Grande to connect with Avenida Abraham Lincoln in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. - Interstate 410 is a 49.5 mile (79.2 km) loop around the city of San Antonio. It serves as the inner of two loops around the city. It is identified as Connally Loop in honor of former Texas governor John B. Connally. - Interstate 610 is a 38.0 mile (61.1 km) loop around the city of Houston. Like I-410, it serves as the inner of two loops around the city. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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