Farm to Market Road 1957

Farm to Market Road 1957 marker

Farm to Market Road 1957
Route information
Maintained by TxDOT
Length: 15.983 mi[1] (25.722 km)
Existed: 1954[1] – present
Major junctions
West end: FM 471 near Rio Medina
  SH 211
Loop 1604 in San Antonio
SH 151 in San Antonio
East end: Culebra Road ( FM 3487 until December 18, 2014) in San Antonio
Location
Counties: Medina, Bexar
Highway system
← FM 1956FM 1958 →

Farm to Market Road 1957 (FM 1957), is a Farm to Market Road in the U.S. state of Texas. Located in Medina and Bexar counties, the 15.983-mile-long (25.722 km) highway serves as an arterial street through the growing western suburbs of San Antonio. FM 1957 is known as Potranco Road within Bexar County, and is legislatively defined as Urban Road 1957 (UR 1957) east of Loop 1604.

The modern routing of this highway was originally defined in 1954. Since then, FM 1957's western terminus has been extended to FM 471 near Rio Medina, and the entire routing along Culebra Road was transferred to FM 3487. Before the current routing was established, FM 1957 was also the designation for a highway in Borden County from 1951 to 1954, now part of FM 1610.

Route description

FM 1957 begins at FM 471 near Rio Medina, as a two-lane country road. It then traverses mostly rural, undeveloped land, before reaching the Bexar–Medina county line, where it becomes Potranco Road.[2] In far western Bexar County, Potranco Road travels through recently built, patchy, residential developments.[3] Development becomes somewhat heavier after the highway passes State Highway 211 (SH 211), but FM 1957 still displays mostly rural characteristics until the highway reaches Loop 1604, at which point it enters the San Antonio city limits.[2] Now five lanes wide, with two lanes in each direction and a center turn lane, the legislative definition of FM 1957 becomes UR 1957;[4] however, Potranco Road remains signed as FM 1957.[2]

The highway continues eastward, serving residential developments, commercial outlets, and John Paul Stevens High School. It intersects with SH 151, where development once again becomes patchy. The most notable development along this stretch of Potranco is a National Security Agency data center. State maintenance ends at an intersection with FM 3487 (Culebra Road), slightly west of Interstate 410 (I-410). Potranco Road continues as a city street until Ingram Road.[2]

History

Previous designation

FM 1957 was formerly designated as a highway in Borden County, defined in 1951. This road traveled from U.S. Highway 180 near Gail to a nearby school, a distance of 8.5 miles (13.7 km). The former FM 1957 was combined with FM 1610 in 1954.[1][5]

Current designation

The present-day FM 1957 was defined in 1954. The original routing was along Culebra Road from its intersection with Grissom Road (FM 471) to Potranco Road, which it followed to the Medina County line, a distance of 13.8 miles (22.2 km). The highway gained a 0.1-mile (0.16 km) spur connection to Loop 13 (present-day I-410) in 1956. The following year, FM 1957 was extended to its present western terminus, at FM 471 near Rio Medina. This added 5.3 miles (8.5 km) to the highway. In 1988, the entire routing along Culebra Road was transferred to the newly created FM 3487.[1][6][7] The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) started defining urban roads in 1995, at which time the segment of FM 1957 east of Loop 1604, measuring 5.4 miles (8.7 km), was transferred to the newly defined UR 1957.[4] Despite the change in legal definition, UR 1957 continues to be signed as FM 1957.[2] FM 3487 was removed from the state highway system on December 18, 2014.

Junction list

CountyLocationmi[8]kmDestinationsNotes
Medina 0.0000.000 FM 471
Bexar 6.49610.454 SH 211 south (Hill Country Parkway)
San Antonio11.06917.814 Loop 1604 (Charles W. Anderson Loop)
13.94122.436 SH 151 (Raymond Stotzer Freeway)Interchange
15.98325.722 FM 3487 (Culebra Road) to I-410 (Connally Loop)
Potranco Road		Roadway continues past FM 3487 as Potranco Road
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Transportation Planning and Programming Division (n.d.). "Farm to Market Road No. 1957". Highway Designation Files. Texas Department of Transportation. Retrieved March 21, 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Google (October 16, 2012). "Overview map of Farm to Market Road 1957" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved October 16, 2012.
  3. ↑ Staff (November 5, 2012). "San Antonio, Texas, USA". Earthshots: Satellite Images of Environmental Change. United States Geological Survey. Retrieved November 5, 2012.
  4. 1 2 Transportation Planning and Programming Division (n.d.). "Urban Road No. 1957". Highway Designation Files. Texas Department of Transportation. Retrieved March 21, 2016.
  5. ↑ Transportation Planning and Programming Division (n.d.). "Farm to Market Road No. 1610". Highway Designation Files. Texas Department of Transportation. Retrieved March 21, 2016.
  6. ↑ Transportation Planning and Programming Division (n.d.). "Farm to Market Road No. 3487". Highway Designation Files. Texas Department of Transportation. Retrieved March 21, 2016.
  7. ↑ Transportation Planning and Programming Division (n.d.). "Urban Road No. 3487". Highway Designation Files. Texas Department of Transportation. Retrieved March 21, 2016.
  8. ↑ Statewide Planning Map (Map). Cartography by Transportation Planning and Programming Division. Texas Department of Transportation. 2012. Archived from the original on October 23, 2012. Retrieved October 15, 2012.

External links

Route map: Bing / Google

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, April 22, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.