Interstate 69E

Interstate 69E (I-69E^[a]) is a north–south Interstate Highway running through South Texas. Once complete, the freeway will begin in Brownsville and head northward before terminating near Victoria as both I-69W and I-69E merge into I-69 toward Houston. For its entire length, I-69E runs concurrently with U.S. Highway 77 (US 77). The route currently exists in two segments: a 56.894-mile (91.562 km) segment from its southern terminus in Brownsville to the Willacy–Kenedy county line and a shorter 7.672-mile (12.347 km) segment south of Corpus Christi. The route has one auxiliary Interstate route, I-169 in Brownsville.

Interstate 69E
Open segments of I-69E highlighted in red; proposed segments highlighted in pink
Route information
Auxiliary route of I-69
Maintained by TxDOT
Existed	December 5, 2011 (2011-12-05) (as I-69)–present
NHS	Entire route
Eastern Lower Rio Grande Valley segment
Length	56.894 mi^[1]^[2] (91.562 km)
South end	US 77 / US 83 in Brownsville
Major intersections	I-169 / SH 550 Toll in Olmito I-2 / US 83 in Harlingen
North end	US 77 near Raymondville
Corpus Christi area segment
Length	7.672 mi (12.347 km)
South end	US 77 / FM 2826 in La Paloma-Lost Creek
North end	I-37 / US 77 in Corpus Christi
Location
Country	United States
State	Texas
Counties	Cameron, Willacy; Nueces
Highway system
Interstate Highway System Main Auxiliary Suffixed Business Future Highways in Texas Interstate US State Toll Loops Spurs FM/RM Park Rec
← I-69C → I-69W

Route description

 

The interchange between I-37 and US 77 (Future I-69E corridor) in Corpus Christi in 2005

I-69E begins at an at-grade intersection just north of the Veterans International Bridge at Los Tomates in Brownsville. I-69E has a concurrency with US 77. I-69E intersects the eastern terminus of I-2 in Harlingen. After leaving Brownsville–Matamoros, I-69E temporarily ends and becomes US 77, a four-lane expressway. Another piece of I-69E picks up just north of Driscoll. I-69E passes through Robstown before terminating at a freeway-to-freeway style interchange with I-37 east of Corpus Christi.

History

A stated goal of the Texas Department of Transportation's (TxDOT) I-69 initiative is that "existing suitable freeway sections of the proposed system be designated as I-69 as soon as possible".^[4] A bill was introduced and passed by the House of Representatives that allows Interstate quality sections of US 59, US 77, and US 281 to be signed as I-69 regardless of whether or not they connected to other Interstate Highways.

TxDOT submitted an application to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) to designate 75 miles (121 km) of US 59 in Greater Houston and eight miles (13 km) of US 77 near Corpus Christi as I-69, as these sections are already built to Interstate Highway standards and connect to other Interstate Highways. In August 2011, TxDOT received approval from the FHWA for a six-mile (9.7 km) segment of US 77 between I-37 and State Highway 44 (SH 44) near Corpus Christi and was approved by AASHTO in October 2011.^[5] Officials held a ceremony on December 5, 2011, to unveil I-69 signs on the Robstown–Corpus Christi section.^[6]

The FHWA approved the designation for the eastern Lower Rio Grande Valley segment on May 24, 2013,^[7] and the Texas Transportation Commission followed suit on May 30, 2013.^[8] This action finalized the designations of not only I-69E but also of the sections of I-69C from Pharr north to the end of the US 281 freeway facility near Edinburg, and also I-2, which is a 46.8-mile (75.3 km) freeway that runs from Peñitas to Harlingen and connects with I-69C and I-69E.^[7] These approvals added over 100 miles (160 km) to the Interstate Highway System in the Lower Rio Grande Valley.^[9] The signage was installed in mid-2013.^[10]

Currently, the cluster consisting of the recently designated portions of I-69E, I-69C, and I-2 in the Lower Rio Grande Valley is not connected to the national Interstate network. This situation is slated to be remedied by scheduled projects to complete I-69E along US 77 between Raymondville and Robstown the southern end of the previously signed portion of the I-69 corridor connecting with I-37 west of Corpus Christi. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approval for the upgrade of the US 77 alignment to Interstate standards, including bypasses of the towns along the 91-mile (146 km) routing, was obtained through a finding of no significant impact statement issued on July 13, 2012.^[11]

During its 2019 Annual Meeting in October 2019, AASHTO approved an extension of the I-69E designation along US 77 from Farm to Market Road 892 (FM 892) to FM 2826 in Nueces County. The 3.3-mile (5.3 km) extension completes I-69E from I-37 in Calallen to the north end of the Driscoll Bypass. The northbound lanes of the Driscoll Bypass opened in 2021 while the southbound lanes opened on August 16, 2023.^[12] The entire project is set to be completed in December 2023.^{[13][needs update]} An additional bypass is also expected to be constructed around Rivera as well.^[14] This project received $177.7 million in funding in August 2023 and construction will begin 2027.^[15] Most of the projects between Raymondville and Rivera are not funded but still planned.^[16]

The section of I-69E north of Corpus Christi to Victoria is still in the early stages of development. Currently, plans have been released for I-69E to be built through Odem and then bypass Sinton; further north, it will be built through Woodsboro and then bypass Refugio. The Odem project has received partial funding while the others have received full funding.^[15] No other upgrade plans have been released.^[16] TxDOT held open houses in Refugio in late October 2023 in order to receive public feedback on the project.^[17]

Exit list

County	Location	mi^[2]	km	Exit^[18]	Destinations	Notes
Cameron	Brownsville	0.000	0.000		To Veterans International Bridge	Bridge over the Rio Grande to Mexico; south end of US 77/US 83 concurrency
				Brownsville Veterans Port of Entry
		0.210	0.338		University Boulevard / East Avenue	Traffic controlled level intersection
					Southern end of the freeway
		0.321	0.517	0	Polk Street	Southbound exit only
		0.607– 1.491	0.977– 2.400	1A	SH 4 (International Boulevard) – International Airport, Gateway International Bridge
		1.727– 1.780	2.779– 2.865	1B	12th Street / 14th Street	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		2.322	3.737	1C	6th Street	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		1.989– 3.328	3.201– 5.356	2	SH 48 (Boca Chica Boulevard) – Airport
		2.594– 4.440	4.175– 7.145	3	Price Road / Old Alice Road
		3.597– 5.702	5.789– 9.176	4	Bus. US 77 south / FM 802 (Ruben M. Torres Sr. Boulevard)	To Brownsville Baptist Medical Center
		4.450– 6.472	7.162– 10.416	5	Pablo Kisel Boulevard / Morrison Road
		5.854– 7.022	9.421– 11.301	6	FM 3248 (Alton Gloor Boulevard)	To Valley Regional Medical Center
		7.193– 7.913	11.576– 12.735	7	Stillman Road / Old Alice Road
		8.233– 8.988	13.250– 14.465	8	Merryman Road
		9.083– 9.843	14.618– 15.841	9	FM 1732 – Olmito
		9.962– 11.032	16.032– 17.754	10A	SH 550 to FM 511 – Port of Brownsville
		10.725– 10.857	17.260– 17.473	10B	I-169 south / SH 550 Toll east – Port of Brownsville	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		11.177– 12.304	17.988– 19.801	11	FM 803 – Rancho Viejo
		12.502– 13.356	20.120– 21.494	12	Carmen Avenue
		13.525– 14.273	21.766– 22.970	13	Roberta Road
		14.629– 15.395	23.543– 24.776	14	SH 100 / FM 1421 – South Padre Island
		15.761– 17.254	25.365– 27.768	16	Frontage Road
		16.400– 17.254	26.393– 27.768	Parking Area
	​	16.400– 17.151	26.393– 27.602	17	Bus. US 77 north / FM 732 – San Benito	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
	San Benito	17.953– 18.748	28.893– 30.172	18	FM 510 / FM 732 – San Benito
		18.964– 20.708	30.520– 33.326	19A	McCulloch Street	No direct southbound exit (signed at exit 19B)
		19.532– 20.512	31.434– 33.011	19B	SH 345 (Sam Houston Boulevard north) / FM 2520 (Sam Houston Boulevard south) / Ratliff Street	Ratliff Street signed at exit 21 southbound
		20.512– 21.844	33.011– 35.155	21	Spur 486 (Williams Road) / Ratliff Street
		21.973– 22.724	35.362– 36.571	22	FM 509 (Paso Real Highway)
	Harlingen	22.887– 23.903	36.833– 38.468	23A	Loop 499 east (Ed Carey Drive) / FM 801 west – Airport	To Valley Baptist Medical Center
		24.194– 24.805	38.936– 39.920	23B	New Hampshire Street	No direct northbound exit (signed at exit 23A)
		24.191– 25.732	38.932– 41.412	24	FM 1479 (Rangerville Road) / F Street
		25.202	40.559	25	M Street	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
		25.756– 25.791	41.450– 41.507	26A	Lincoln Avenue	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
		26.178– 27.277	42.129– 43.898	26B	I-2 west / US 83 west – McAllen       Bus. US 83 begins	Eastern terminus of westbound Bus. US 83; north end of US 83 overlap; south end of northbound Bus. US 83 overlap; I-2 exit 176; eastern terminus of I-2
		26.348– 26.975	42.403– 43.412	26C	Bus. US 83 west (Harrison Avenue) / Tyler Avenue (Spur 206 east) – Downtown	Eastern terminus of eastbound Bus. US 83; north end of northbound Bus. US 83 concurrency; Bus. US 83 not signed southbound
		27.441– 27.636	44.162– 44.476	27	Spur 54 west / Fairpark Boulevard east       Bus. US 83 ends	No direct northbound exit (signed at exit 26C)
		27.754– 28.709	44.666– 46.203	28	FM 2994 (Wilson Road)
	Harlingen–Combes line	28.981– 29.826	46.640– 48.000	29A	Bus. US 77 / Loop 499 (Primera Road)	Signed as exit 29 southbound
		29.562	47.575	29B	Bus. US 77 north	Northbound exit only
	Combes	30.392– 31.187	48.911– 50.191	30	SH 107 / FM 508 – Santa Rosa, Rio Hondo
	​	32.337– 33.165	52.041– 53.374	32	Bus. US 77 south
	​	34.447– 35.224	55.437– 56.688	34	Orphanage Road / V Road
	​	36.732– 37.689	59.114– 60.655	36	Bus. US 77 north – Sebastian
Willacy	Sebastian	38.033– 38.785	61.208– 62.418	38	Spur 413 west / FM 2629 east
		39.007– 39.853	62.776– 64.137	39	FM 1018
	​	41.864	67.374	42A	FM 498 (Parker Road)	No direct southbound exit (signed at exit 42B)
	Lyford	42.556– 43.589	68.487– 70.150	42B	Spur 112 (Broadway Street)
	​	44.150– 45.251	71.053– 72.824	44	Spur 56
	​	45.617– 46.385	73.413– 74.649	45	FM 490
	Raymondville	46.729– 47.584	75.203– 76.579	47	FM 3168
		47.793– 48.654	76.915– 78.301	48	SH 186 – Raymondville, Port Mansfield
	​	49.324	79.379	49	FM 1762 / Conley Road	No direct northbound exit (signed at exit 51)
	​	51.011 51.711	82.094 83.221	51	Bus. US 77 south – Raymondville	Mileposts at northern end of the exit reflect US 77
	​	52.669– 53.157	84.763– 85.548	52	Frontage Road	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
	​	0.000	0.000	54	Yturria County Road, H Yturria, La Chata North Gate
Kenedy	​	0.000	0.000	56	Thomas Ranch Road, H Yturria, Punta Del Monte	On the Kenedy-Willacy county line
	Gap in route, connection made via US 77
	​				Sarita	Proposed
Kleberg	Riviera				Bus. US 77 north	Proposed
					FM 771 east – Riviera Beach	Proposed
					Bus. US 77 south	Proposed
	​				SH 285 west – Falfurrias	Proposed
	​				RM 628 east – Loyola Beach	Proposed
	​				FM 772	Proposed
	Ricardo				FM 1118 east	Proposed
	Kingsville				Bus. US 77 north	Interchange under construction
					FM 1717 east	Interchange under construction
					FM 1356 (General Cavazos Boulevard)	Future interchange; no northbound entrance; access to CHRISTUS Spohn Hospital
					FM 425 (Senator Carlos Truan Boulevard) / Caesar Avenue	Future interchange
					SH 141 (King Avenue) / Kenedy Avenue / Caesar Avenue	Future interchange
					FM 1898 (Corral Avenue) / FM 2045 (Santa Gertudis Avenue)	Future interchange
	​				Sage Road	Future interchange; southbound exit only
	​				Embarque	Future interchange
Nueces	Bishop				FM 257 / FM 70 – Bishop, Chapman Ranch, Agua Dulce	Future interchange
	​				Bus. US 77 / County Road 10	Future interchange
	​				FM 3354 / County Road 12 – Bishop Airport	Future interchange
	​				Bus. US 77 – Driscoll	northbound exit and southbound entrance; opened 2023
	Driscoll				FM 665	opened 2023
	​				Bus. US 77 – Driscoll	southbound exit and northbound entrance; opened 2023
	La Paloma-Lost Creek	430.8	693.3	—	FM 2826
	Robstown	428.606 141.578	689.774 227.848	—	County Road 36	Southbound exit and northbound entrance; mileposts at the southern end of the exit reflect US 77
		142.693	229.642	—	FM 892	No direct northbound exit (signed at County Road 36)
		142.097– 143.986	228.683– 231.723	—	SH 44 – Robstown, Corpus Christi, Alice	Split into east and west exits northbound
		144.643	232.780	—	County Road 44	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
	​	146.729– 147.360	236.137– 237.153	—	Bus. US 77 south to SH 44 west / County Road 48 – Robstown, Alice
	Corpus Christi	147.939	238.085	—	County Road 52	No direct northbound exit (signed at FM 624)
		148.429– 148.532	238.873– 239.039	—	FM 624 (Northwest Boulevard) / Leopard Street	To Corpus Christi Medical Center-Northwest; southbound exit and northbound entrance only
		148.663– 148.811	239.250– 239.488	—	I-37 south – Corpus Christi	Exit 14A on I-37 northbound.
		149.253	240.199	—	Sharpsburg Road	Northbound exit only
		149.387	240.415		I-37 north / US 77 north – San Antonio, Victoria	Continues north as I-37/US 77; exit 14 on I-37 southbound.
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Incomplete access       Unopened

See also

•  U.S. Roads portal
•  Texas portal

• List of Interstate Highways in Texas

Notes

1. Some sources use "IH-69E", as "IH" is an abbreviation used by TxDOT for Interstate Highways.^[3]

References

1. Transportation Planning and Programming Division (n.d.). "Interstate Highway No. 69-E". Highway Designation Files. Texas Department of Transportation. Retrieved September 3, 2013.
2. Texas Department of Transportation (2018). "Statewide Planning Map LRS Readout (ArcGIS)". from the original on September 7, 2019. Retrieved October 4, 2019.
3. Transportation Planning and Programming Division (n.d.). "Highway Designations Glossary". Texas Department of Transportation. from the original on July 10, 2022. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
4. "What's Next for I-69 Texas?". Texas Department of Transportation. from the original on August 21, 2011. Retrieved July 17, 2013.
5. (Press release). Texas Department of Transportation. Archived from the original on November 2, 2011. Retrieved July 17, 2013.
6. Clark, Steve (October 30, 2011). . Brownsville Herald. Archived from the original on April 5, 2012. Retrieved July 17, 2013.
7. Staff (May 30, 2013). "Interstate 69 Comes to Texarkana and the Valley" (Press release). Alliance for I-69 Texas. from the original on October 19, 2013. Retrieved July 17, 2013.
8. Nino, Mark (May 31, 2013). . Brownsville, TX: KVEO-TV. Archived from the original on October 19, 2013. Retrieved July 17, 2013.
9. Taylor, Steve (May 30, 2013). . Rio Grande Guardian. McAllen, TX. Archived from the original on October 18, 2013. Retrieved July 17, 2013.
10. Janes, Jared (July 15, 2013). "Valley's I-69 signage the latest stop along superhighway dream". The Monitor. Retrieved July 17, 2013.
11. Staff (July 13, 2012). "Agency Gives US 77 Upgrades Final Environmental Clearance" (Press release). Alliance for I-69 Texas. from the original on April 4, 2020. Retrieved July 17, 2013.
12. "New US 77 mainlanes to open Wednesday around noon, TxDOT says". kiiitv.com. August 16, 2023. from the original on August 26, 2023. Retrieved August 26, 2023.
13. "US 77 DRISCOLL BYPASS". Zachry Construction. from the original on July 7, 2023. Retrieved July 6, 2023.
14. Clark, Steve (January 6, 2019). "Expansion of US 77-I69E making progress". MyRGV.com. from the original on April 27, 2023. Retrieved April 27, 2023.
15. "TxDOT's Refugio Relief Route receives $463.7 million from state". STexasNews.com. August 17, 2023. from the original on November 14, 2023. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
16. "I-69 System Status Tabloids" (PDF). txdot.com. TXDOT. (PDF) from the original on November 14, 2023. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
17. Balderrama, Victoria (October 20, 2023). "I-69 overpass project concerns those along US 77". KRIS 6 News Corpus Christi. from the original on October 22, 2023. Retrieved October 21, 2023.
18. Texas Department of Transportation, plans of proposed highway maintenance contract^{[permanent dead link]} (1.58 GB ZIP file), December 2014

External links

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