Texas State Highway 35

State Highway 35 marker

State Highway 35
Route information
Maintained by TxDOT
Length: 206.5 mi[1] (332.3 km)
Existed: 1919 – present
Major junctions
West end: I-37 / US 181 near Corpus Christi
 
East end: I-45 in Houston
Highway system
I-35WSH 36
Loop 4Spur 5Spur 6

State Highway 35, or SH 35, is a largely northsouth highway in southeastern and southern Texas between Houston, junction of I-45 on the southeast side of the city and Corpus Christi, where it terminates at I-37.

SH 35 takes a generally northsouth route from Houston to Angleton, junction SH 288, and then roughly parallels the inlets of the Gulf of Mexico in a roughly northeast-southwest course through a low, flat coastal plain. To the south and west of Palacios it gives vistas of several inlets of the Gulf of Mexico, becoming one of the more scenic routes of southern Texas.

At Gregory it meets and joins U.S. Highway 181, which coincide to their mutual terminus over a causeway and bridge over Corpus Christi Bay, meeting I-37 and SH 286 at a freeway interchange.

Only in its southernmost part near Corpus Christi is State Highway 35 a freeway, although significant stretches of it are divided highway. It is not to be confused with Interstate 35, which it never meets. It is not the shortest or quickest route between Houston and Corpus Christi, which consists largely of US 59 and US 77.

Route description

SH 35 begins at an interchange with Interstate 37 near downtown Corpus Christi concurrent with US 181. The two highways run as a freeway near Corpus Christi Bay before crossing Nueces Bay into the town of Portland. In Portland, US 181 leaves SH 35, traveling towards Sinton. Just outside Gregory, the freeway segment of SH 35 ends. After crossing FM 136, SH 35 begins to run in an east-west direction to Aransas Pass, before turning towards the northeast. In the town of Rockport, SH 35 runs as a divided expressway before returning to its business loop. The highway passes by the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge before entering into Refugio County.

Future of SH 35

In Houston, SH 35 is Telephone Road and Reveille Street from its northern terminus at Interstate 45. An upgrade of the facility (in a slightly different corridor) to freeway standards is planned, tentatively named the Alvin Freeway. As of 2006, only 1.3 miles (approximately 2 km) had been built, under the sign Spur 5 (constructed between 1996–99; officially opened September 1999; designated 1998). However, the mainlanes extend less than half a mile south of Interstate 45 adjacent to the campus of the University of Houston.

It should be noted that the number has been previously used for Loop 5, which was designated in 1939 from US 81 through Kyle to US 81.[2] In 1950, the section along Burleson St was cancelled and the rest along Center St became Spur 5. In 1952, Spur 5 was cancelled and transferred to FM 150(now RM 150). In 1958, another route, also called Spur 5, was designated from FM 1406 and SH 124 to Interstate 10. In 1962, The section of the Spur 5 from FM 1406 to SH 73 became a rerouting of SH 124. In 1988, Spur 5 was cancelled and mileage was transferred to FM 1663. The current route was designated in 1998.

An overlap of Highway 35 with the Gulf Freeway was also constructed in the 1980s. This portion extends from Spur 5 to Dowling Street, a distance of about 1.6 miles (2.6 km). This section contains three elevated lanes in each direction (briefly four southbound lanes near the southern terminus). This overlap section is 22 lanes wide, including mainlanes, feeder roads, and a reversible HOV lane.[3]

Once built, the Alvin Freeway is planned to follow a corridor near Mykawa Road from the terminus to Beltway 8 before returning to its normal undivided state.

History

SH 35 was originally proposed in 1919 as a route from Paris to Houston. In 1926 the northern half of the highway had been redesignated as SH 49, with the new northern end now going east to the Louisiana border. By 1935, it had been extended southwest along cancelled SH 58 and SH 57, ending in Corpus Christi. By 1939, the section north of Houston was removed when it was renumbered as U.S. Highway 59.

SH 35A was a proposed spur route off SH 35, with a route splitting off at Livingston, and travelling south via Liberty and Devers to Anahuac. By 1926, the section between Devers and Anahuac renumbered as SH 61. By 1928, the Livingston to Liberty section was renumbered as SH 132. By 1933, that became a portion of SH 146.

Junction list

CountyLocationmikmDestinationsNotes
NuecesCorpus Christi I-37 north / Spur 544 west San AntonioSouth end of US 181 overlap; continues south as Spur 544
Belden StreetSouthbound exit and northbound entrance
Burleson Street, Causeway BoulevardNo northbound entrance
Beach AvenueNo southbound entrance
San PatricioPortlandNueces Bay
Frontage RoadSouthbound exit and entrance
FM 893 (Moore Avenue) TaftNorthbound exit and southbound entrance
FM 2986 (Wildcat Drive)
Frontage RoadNo northbound entrance
FM 3239 (Buddy Ganem Drive) / Broadway Boulevard
Frontage RoadNorthbound exit only
Gregory US 181 north SintonNorth end of US 181 overlap; northbound exit and southbound entrance
FM 3284 (Gregory Street)Southbound exit and northbound entrance
SH 361 south / Spur 202 west Aransas Pass, Port Aransas, GregoryNo northbound entrance
FM 136 BaysideNo northbound exit; north end of freeway
  FM 3512 south Ingleside
 
Bus. SH 35 north Aransas Pass
Interchange; northbound exit and southbound entrance
Aransas Pass FM 1069 InglesideInterchange; no northbound exit
Aransas  SH 188 SintonInterchange
Rockport FM 1069 (Market Street) RockportInterchange
FM 2165 RockportInterchange
FM 3036 westSouth end of FM 3036 overlap

Bus. SH 35 south / FM 3036 east Rockport
North end of FM 3036 overlap
  FM 1781 south
Lamar PR 13 east Goose Island State Park
Refugio  FM 774 Refugio, Austwell
  FM 1684 east
  SH 239 south AustwellSouth end of SH 239 overlap
Tivoli SH 239 north GoliadNorth end of SH 239 overlap
Calhoun  SH 185 south Seadrift, Port O'ConnorSouth end of SH 185 overlap
  SH 185 north VictoriaNorth end of SH 185 overlap
  FM 1679 north
  FM 2235 south
  FM 2541 south
  FM 2433 Victoria, Indianola
Port Lavaca US 87 Victoria, Port Lavaca
FM 3084 west (Half League Road)
FM 1090 (Virginia Street)
SH 238 south Port Lavaca, Seadrift
Point Comfort FM 1593 Lolita, Matagorda Bay
  FM 2143 east
Jackson  SH 172 La Ward
  FM 1862 north Blessing
  FM 3280 south
MatagordaPalacios
Bus. SH 35 north Palacios

Bus. SH 35 south Palacios
  FM 2853 north
  FM 521 north Simpsonville
Blessing FM 2853 south
FM 616 west La Ward
SH 71 west El Campo
Elmaton FM 1095 south Simpsonville
Markham FM 1468 southSouth end of FM 1468 overlap
FM 1468 north MarkhamNorth end of FM 1468 overlap
 Colorado River RurnaroundInterchange
Bay City SH 60 Wharton, Matagorda
FM 2668 south
FM 457 east Cedar Lane
Van Vleck FM 2540 south
  FM 1728 north Pledger
Brazoria  Loop 419 east Old Ocean
Old Ocean FM 524 north DancigerSouth end of FM 524 overlap
  Loop 419 west Old Ocean
  FM 524 south SweenyNorth end of FM 524 overlap
  FM 1459 Sweeny
 
Bus. SH 35 north West Columbia
West Columbia SH 36 Rosenberg, Freeport

Bus. SH 35 south (17th Street)
FM 2851 north Varner-Hogg Plantation
Bailey's Prairie FM 521 south BrazoriaSouth end of FM 521 overlap
FM 521 north RosharonNorth end of FM 521 overlap
Angleton SH 288 (Nolan Ryan Expressway) Houston, Freeport
Loop 274 (Hancock Street)

Bus. SH 288 Houston, Lake Jackson
FM 523 (Highway 35 Bypass) Freeport
  Spur 28 south Danbury
  FM 2917 south
Alvin FM 2403 south

Bus. SH 35 north Alvin
FM 1462 west
House StreetInterchange
SH 6 Sugar Land, GalvestonInterchange
FM 517 (Dickinson Road) League City
FM 528 (Friendswood Road) Friendswood, Webster

Bus. SH 35 south Alvin
Interchange
  FM 2351 north Friendswood
Pearland FM 518 Friendswood
HarrisHouston Beltway 8 (Sam Houston Tollway)
I-610 (South Loop Freeway) to I-45 south (Gulf Freeway) GalvestonInterchange
I-45 north (Gulf Freeway) Downtown HoustonInterchange; northbound exit and southbound entrance
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

See also

References

  1. Transportation Planning and Programming Division. "State Highway No. 35". Highway Designation Files. Texas Department of Transportation. Retrieved January 30, 2016.
  2. Transportation Planning and Programming Division. "State Highway Spur No. 5". Highway Designation Files. Texas Department of Transportation. Retrieved January 30, 2016.
  3. Chapter 4, The Spokes, p. 163 Houston Freeways, Erik Slotboom.
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