Texas State Highway 73
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|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Route information | ||||
| Maintained by TxDOT | ||||
| Length: | 42.02 mi[1] (67.62 km) | |||
| Existed: | 1941 – present | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| West end: |
 I-10 in Winnie | |||
   US 69 / US 96 / US 287 in Port Arthur | ||||
| East end: |
I-10 near Orange | |||
| Location | ||||
| Counties: | Chambers, Jefferson, Orange | |||
| Highway system | ||||
| ||||
State Highway 73 (SH 73) is a Texas state highway that runs 42 miles (68 km) from Winnie through Port Arthur to near Orange.
In September 2008, Hurricane Ike forced the closure of SH 73. Among other road debris left by the storm were two 200-ton barges. The storm surge pushed the barges almost 10 miles (16 km) before they came to rest on the highway.[2]
History
Previous routes
The original SH 73 was designated in 1926 from Oldenburg to Houston. By 1933, it was rerouted southwest to Columbus, white a portion of the old route being transferred to SH 159. By 1941, the route was adjusted so that, instead of extending west from Houston, it was now designated east from Houston to Port Arthur. This was previously SH 228. Construction was slow, with only small portions outside Houston, Port Arthur, and the stretch from Winnie to Anahuac (signed as 73-T) completed by 1954. In 1961, the route was shortened from Port Arthur to Winnie, with the western portions having been replaced by Interstate 10 (I-10). SH 73-T was transferred to SH 65. In 1982, the route was extended along its current route to Orange, along a concurrent route with SH 87 and SH 62.
SH 73A was designated in 1927 from SH 73 in Fayetteville to Hempstead as a replacement for SH 3C. By 1931, this route was renumbered as SH 159.
In popular culture
SH 73 is shown as a road sign in the opening 10 seconds of the 1941 movie Moon Over Miami immediately following the opening credits. There is no mention of the city in that film. A similar road sign of SH 73 is also depicted on the set of The Partridge Family.
Major intersections
| County | Location | mi | km | Destinations | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chambers |  I-10 west / FM 1406 – Houston | Westbound exit and eastbound entrance; I-10 exit 828 | |||
  SH 124 south / FM 1663 – Winnie, Galveston | West end of SH 124 concurrency | ||||
| Broussard Road | eastbound exit only | ||||
| Chambers Jefferson | FM 1406 | at-grade intersection; east end of freeway | |||
| Jefferson | SH 124 north – Beaumont, Fannett, Hamshire | East end of SH 124 concurrency | |||
| Port Arthur |  Spur 93 north – Beaumont | ||||
 SH 82 south – Cameron | interchange; west end of freeway | ||||
 Spur 215 (Savannah Avenue) | |||||
 US 69 / US 96 / US 287 (Memorial Boulevard) – Beaumont, Airport | |||||
| 9th Avenue | |||||
 SH 347 – Nederland | |||||
| Groves | 39th Street - Groves | no direct westbound exit (signed at 32nd Street) | |||
| 32nd Street / Main Avenue | |||||
| 25th Street - Groves | |||||
| Port Arthur |  SH 87 south – Port Arthur | West end of SH 87 concurrency; no direct eastbound exit (signed at 25th Street) | |||
| Taft Avenue / Procter Street | |||||
 FM 366 – Groves, Port Neches | interchange; east end of freeway; no direct eastbound exit (signed at Taft Avenue / Procter Street) | ||||
| Neches River | Veterans Memorial Bridge / Rainbow Bridge | ||||
| Orange | Bridge City |  FM 1442 north | |||
| Cow Bayou Swing Bridge over Cow Bayou | |||||
| SH 87 north | East end of SH 87 concurrency; west end of SH 62 concurrency | ||||
| Orange |  FM 105 – Orangefield, Orange | ||||
 I-10 (US 90) / SH 62 north – Beaumont, Lake Charles | I-10 exit 873; east end of SH 62 overlap | ||||
| 1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi | |||||
See also
- Texas portal
- U.S. Roads portal
References
- ↑ Transportation Planning and Programming Division (n.d.). "State Highway No. 73". Highway Designation Files. Texas Department of Transportation. Retrieved April 4, 2012.
- ↑ Myers, Ryan (September 21, 2008). "Demolition team works to clear barges from Texas 73". Beaumont Enterprise. Retrieved April 4, 2012.