Interstate 45 (I-45) is an intrastate There are several intrastate Interstate Highways; that is, Interstate Highways that are located entirely within one state. The concept seems contradictory at first; it is important to note that the word "Interstate" refers to the way the entire group of highways is funded , not to the route each given highway travels Interstate Highway The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly called the Interstate Highway System , is a network of limited-access highways (also called freeways or expressways) in the United States. It is named for President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who championed its formation. As of 2006[update], the system has a total located entirely within the U.S. state A U.S. state is any one of 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of commonwealth rather than state. State citizenship is of Texas Houston is the largest city in Texas and the fourth-largest in the United States, while San Antonio is the second largest in the state and seventh largest in the United States. Dallas–Fort Worth and Greater Houston are the fourth and sixth largest United States metropolitan areas, respectively. Other major cities include El Paso and Austin—the. It connects the cities of Dallas Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the eighth-largest in the United States. As of January 1, 2010 the population of Dallas was a little over 1.4 million. The city is the largest economic center of the 12-county Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan area that according to the March 2010 U.S. Census Bureau release, had a population and Houston Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States of America and the largest city in the state of Texas. As of the 2009 U.S. Census estimate, the city had a population of 2.3 million within an area of 600 square miles (1,600 km2). Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan, continuing southeast from Houston to Galveston Galveston is a coastal city located on Galveston Island in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2005 U.S. Census estimate, the city had a total population of 57,466 within an area of 208 square miles (540 km2). Located within the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan area, the city is the seat and second-largest city of Galveston County in on the Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico is the eleventh largest body of water in the world. Considered a smaller part of the Atlantic Ocean, it is an ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and.

I-45 replaced US 75 over its entire length, although portions of US 75 remained parallel to I-45 until its elimination south of downtown Dallas in 1987. At the south end of I-45, State Highway 87 (formerly part of US 75) continues into downtown Galveston. The north end is at Interstate 30 In the U.S. state of Texas, Interstate 30 is an east–west Interstate Highway that runs from I-20 west of Fort Worth through Dallas to the border with Arkansas at Texarkana in downtown Dallas Downtown Dallas is the main business district in Dallas, Texas USA, located in the geographic center of the city. The area officially termed "downtown" is bounded by the downtown freeway loop: bounded on the east by I-345 (although known and signed as the northern terminus of I-45 and the southern terminus of US 75 , on the west by I-35E,, where US 75 used the Good-Latimer Expressway. A short continuation, known by traffic reporters as the "I-45 overhead",^[2] signed as part of US 75, and officially Interstate 345, continues north to the merge with the current end of US 75. Traffic can use Spur 366 to connect to Interstate 35E Interstate 35E , an Interstate Highway, is the eastern half of Interstate 35 where it splits to serve different cities in Texas. I-35 splits into two branch routes, I-35W and I-35E at Hillsboro. I-35E runs north for 97 miles (156 km), maintaining I-35's sequence of exit numbers. It runs through Dallas before rejoining with I-35W to reform I-35 in at the north end of I-345.

The portion of I-45 between Dallas Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the eighth-largest in the United States. As of January 1, 2010 the population of Dallas was a little over 1.4 million. The city is the largest economic center of the 12-county Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan area that according to the March 2010 U.S. Census Bureau release, had a population and downtown Houston Downtown Houston is the largest business district of Houston, Texas, United States. Downtown Houston, the city's central business district, contains the headquarters of many prominent companies. There is an extensive network of pedestrian tunnels and skywalks connecting the buildings of the district. The tunnel system is home to many fast food is known to Dallas residents as the Gulf Freeway, and to Houston residents as the North Freeway. The portion of I-45 between downtown Houston and Galveston is known to Houston residents as the Gulf Freeway. The short elevated section of I-45 near downtown Houston is known as the Pierce Elevated, after the surface street next to which the freeway runs. I-45 and I-345 in the Dallas area, north of the interchanges with Interstate 20 Interstate 20 in Texas is a major east-west Interstate Highway in the Southern United States, running east from a junction with Interstate 10 east of Kent, Texas, through the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex to the border with Louisiana near Waskom, Texas. The original distance of Interstate 20 was 647 miles (1,041 km) from I-10 to the Louisiana border, and State Highway 310 (old US 75), is the Julius Schepps Freeway. The Gulf Freeway and North Freeway both include reversible A reversible lane is a lane in which traffic may travel in either direction, depending on certain conditions. Typically, it is meant to improve traffic flow during rush hours, by having overhead traffic lights and lighted street signs notify drivers which lanes are open or closed to driving or turning High-occupancy vehicle lanes In transportation engineering and transportation planning, a high-occupancy vehicle lane is a lane reserved for vehicles with a driver and one or more passengers. These lanes are also known as carpool lanes, commuter lanes, diamond lanes, express lanes, and transit lanes for buses A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. Buses are widely used public transportation and other high-occupancy vehicles In transportation engineering and transportation planning, a high-occupancy vehicle lane is a lane reserved for vehicles with a driver and one or more passengers. These lanes are also known as carpool lanes, commuter lanes, diamond lanes, express lanes, and transit lanes to and from downtown Houston.

Route description

In addition to the official control cities of Galveston Galveston is a coastal city located on Galveston Island in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2005 U.S. Census estimate, the city had a total population of 57,466 within an area of 208 square miles (540 km2). Located within the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan area, the city is the seat and second-largest city of Galveston County in, Houston Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States of America and the largest city in the state of Texas. As of the 2009 U.S. Census estimate, the city had a population of 2.3 million within an area of 600 square miles (1,600 km2). Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan, and Dallas Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the eighth-largest in the United States. As of January 1, 2010 the population of Dallas was a little over 1.4 million. The city is the largest economic center of the 12-county Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan area that according to the March 2010 U.S. Census Bureau release, had a population,^[3] I-45 serves a number of other communities, including La Marque, League City, Spring, The Woodlands The Woodlands is a census-designated place and large master-planned community of Montgomery County in the U.S. state of Texas within the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan area. The population was 55,649 at the 2000 census, 90.5% increase over 1990 population. As of 2006, the estimated population had reached approximately 84,418. Much of, Conroe Conroe is a suburban city 40 miles north of Houston, TX in the gulf coastal plains/piney woods region of southeast Texas, Willis, Huntsville Huntsville is a city in and the county seat of Walker County, Texas, United States. The population was 35,078 at the 2000 census. It is the center of the Huntsville micropolitan area, Madisonville Madisonville is a city in Madison County, Texas, United States. The population was 4,159 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Madison County. Both the City of Madisonville and the County of Madison were named for U.S. President James Madison, the fourth chief executive, Centerville Centerville is a city in Leon County, Texas, United States. The population was 903 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Leon County, Buffalo, Fairfield Fairfield is a city in Freestone County, Texas, United States. The population was 3,094 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Freestone County, Corsicana Corsicana is a city in Navarro County, Texas, United States. It is located on Interstate 45 some fifty-five miles south of downtown Dallas. The population was 24,485 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Navarro County, and Ennis.

U.S. Highway 190 joins I-45 for 26 miles (42 km) from Huntsville, Texas Huntsville is a city in and the county seat of Walker County, Texas, United States. The population was 35,078 at the 2000 census. It is the center of the Huntsville micropolitan area to Madisonville, Texas Madisonville is a city in Madison County, Texas, United States. The population was 4,159 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Madison County. Both the City of Madisonville and the County of Madison were named for U.S. President James Madison, the fourth chief executive. U.S. Highway 287 joins I-45 for 18 miles (29 km) from Corsicana, Texas Corsicana is a city in Navarro County, Texas, United States. It is located on Interstate 45 some fifty-five miles south of downtown Dallas. The population was 24,485 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Navarro County to Ennis, Texas. US 287 signs are only posted (with I-45) from the northern end of Business Loop 45 in Corsicana to the Ellis County line.

Interstate 45 gained notoriety during Hurricane Rita Hurricane Rita was the fourth-most intense Atlantic hurricane ever recorded and the most intense tropical cyclone ever observed in the Gulf of Mexico. Rita caused $11.3 billion in damage on the U.S. Gulf Coast in September 2005. Rita was the seventeenth named storm, tenth hurricane, fifth major hurricane, and third Category 5 hurricane of the in 2005. Thousands of Houston Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States of America and the largest city in the state of Texas. As of the 2009 U.S. Census estimate, the city had a population of 2.3 million within an area of 600 square miles (1,600 km2). Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan area evacuees jammed the roadway trying to leave. As a result, the freeway became a parking lot. Gas stations ran dry and hundreds of people's cars simply ran empty, their occupants having to spend the night along the shoulder. Four-hour drives suddenly became 24-hour drives. Even though the Texas Department of Transportation The Texas Department of Transportation is a governmental agency in the U.S. state of Texas. Its stated mission is to "work cooperatively to provide safe, effective and efficient movement of people and goods" throughout the state. Though the public face of the agency is generally associated with the construction and maintenance of the started contraflow lane reversal Contraflow lane reversal refers to plans that alter the normal flow of traffic, typically on a controlled-access highway , to either aid in an emergency evacuation (the most common usage of the term in the United States) or, as part of routine maintenance activities, to facilitate widening or reconstruction of one of the highway's carriageways ( at FM 1488, it didn't alleviate the traffic jam deep into the city, as that starting point was even north of The Woodlands The Woodlands is a census-designated place and large master-planned community of Montgomery County in the U.S. state of Texas within the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan area. The population was 55,649 at the 2000 census, 90.5% increase over 1990 population. As of 2006, the estimated population had reached approximately 84,418. Much of, which is close to Conroe Conroe is a suburban city 40 miles north of Houston, TX in the gulf coastal plains/piney woods region of southeast Texas, the northern terminus of the greater Houston area.

At just 284.913 miles (458.523 km), I-45 is the shortest of the primary interstates (those ending in 0 or 5).

Gulf Freeway

The stretch of I-45 connecting Galveston with Houston is known as the Gulf Freeway. It was the first freeway A freeway is a limited access divided highway with grade separated junctions and without traffic lights or stop signs. The term is used in the United States and parts of Canada, Australia, and South Africa. A freeway is roughly equivalent to a motorway in the United Kingdom and Ireland built in Texas Houston is the largest city in Texas and the fourth-largest in the United States, while San Antonio is the second largest in the state and seventh largest in the United States. Dallas–Fort Worth and Greater Houston are the fourth and sixth largest United States metropolitan areas, respectively. Other major cities include El Paso and Austin—the--opened in stages beginning on October 1, 1948, up to a full completion to Galveston Galveston is a coastal city located on Galveston Island in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2005 U.S. Census estimate, the city had a total population of 57,466 within an area of 208 square miles (540 km2). Located within the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan area, the city is the seat and second-largest city of Galveston County in in 1952, as part of U.S. Highway 75. At the north (Houston) end, it connects to the North Freeway via the short Pierce Elevated, completed in 1967.^[4] The section north of the curve near Monroe Road/State Highway 3 in southeastern Houston was built on the right-of-way A right-of-way is a strip of land that is granted, through an easement or other mechanism, for transportation purposes, such as for a rail line or highway. A right-of-way is reserved for the purposes of maintenance or expansion of existing services with the right-of-way. In the case of an easement, it may revert to its original owners if the of the former Galveston-Houston Electric Railway, which entered downtown on Pierce Street.^[5][6]

After several interchanges In the field of road transport, an interchange is a road junction that typically uses grade separation, and one or more ramps, to permit traffic on at least one highway to pass through the junction without directly crossing any other traffic stream. It differs from a standard intersection, at which roads cross at grade. Interchanges are almost, I-45 crosses the Galveston Causeway and passes Tiki Island. The split with State Highway 6 and State Highway 146 (to State Highway 3) may be the beginning of the Gulf Freeway^{[citation needed]}; old U.S. Highway 75 south of this junction was upgraded on the spot.^[7]

The Gulf Freeway generally parallels State Highway 3 (old US 75) about 1 mile (1.5 km) to the west, bypassing La Marque, Dickinson and South Houston. It includes interchanges In the field of road transport, an interchange is a road junction that typically uses grade separation, and one or more ramps, to permit traffic on at least one highway to pass through the junction without directly crossing any other traffic stream. It differs from a standard intersection, at which roads cross at grade. Interchanges are almost with several other freeways A freeway is a limited access divided highway with grade separated junctions and without traffic lights or stop signs. The term is used in the United States and parts of Canada, Australia, and South Africa. A freeway is roughly equivalent to a motorway in the United Kingdom and Ireland: the Emmett F. Lowry Expressway (Farm to Market Road 1764), NASA Road 1 Bypass (freeway under construction) and the Sam Houston Tollway, meeting the north end of State Highway 3 in southeastern Houston. (This part of SH 3 — on Winkler Drive and Monroe Road — is not part of old US 75.) A center reversible A reversible lane is a lane in which traffic may travel in either direction, depending on certain conditions. Typically, it is meant to improve traffic flow during rush hours, by having overhead traffic lights and lighted street signs notify drivers which lanes are open or closed to driving or turning HOV lane In transportation engineering and transportation planning, a high-occupancy vehicle lane is a lane reserved for vehicles with a driver and one or more passengers. These lanes are also known as carpool lanes, commuter lanes, diamond lanes, express lanes, and transit lanes (Australia and New Zealand) begins just south of the Sam Houston Tollway.

In Houston, I-45 meets Interstate Highway 610 and State Highway 35 at a complicated interchange In the field of road transport, an interchange is a road junction that typically uses grade separation, and one or more ramps, to permit traffic on at least one highway to pass through the junction without directly crossing any other traffic stream. It differs from a standard intersection, at which roads cross at grade. Interchanges are almost^[8]. At the merge with Spur 5, a short freeway spur to the University of Houston, elevated collector/distributor roads (also part of Spur 5) begin. The C/D roads and the HOV lane end at Dowling Street, the original end of the Gulf Freeway. Just past Dowling Street is an interchange with U.S. Highway 59 (Eastex Freeway and Southwest Freeway) and State Highway 288 (South Freeway), after which I-45 technically becomes the North Freeway^[9] as it runs along the northwest half of the block between Pierce Street and Gray Street as the Pierce Elevated.

The reversible high-occupancy vehicle lane begins in downtown Houston at the intersection of St. Joseph Parkway and Dowling Street, with easy access inbound to St. Joseph Parkway and outbound from Pierce Street. It runs down the median of the Gulf Freeway, mostly at the same level as the main lanes. Ramps are provided for access to and from the following roads:

• Eastwood Transit Center - full access
• Interstate Highway 610 north frontage road — full access
• Monroe Road and Monroe Park & Ride — full access
• Fuqua Park & Ride and South Point Park & Ride — full access
• Frontage roads north of Dixie Farm Road (Farm to Market Road 1959) - towards downtown, with a ramp stub for continuation

North Freeway

The North Freeway HOV begins in downtown Houston near the University of Houston–Downtown, with easy access inbound on Milam Street and outbound on Travis Street. Ramps and entrances are provided for access from the following roads:

• Interstate Highway 10 westbound exit and entrance only — full access
• Quitman Street — full access
• Airline Drive (to Crosstimbers Road) - full access
• N. Shepherd (to N. Shepherd Park & Ride) - full access
• Farm to Market Road 525 (Aldine-Bender Rd) - full access
• Kuykendahl Park & Ride — full access
• Farm to Market Road 1960 (to Spring Park & Ride) - full access

The HOV ends approximately one mile north of the FM1960 exit.

Schepps Freeway

The stretch of I-45 along the Julius Schepps Freeway in Dallas, from the Trinity River to Downtown Dallas, is elevated above the surrounding areas for most of its length. As such, when ice storms hit the Dallas area (usually on average 1-2 times per year), the freeway is shut down, and traffic is diverted to State Highway 310 and U.S. Highway 175 which parallel I-45.

I-345 is just 1.4 miles^[10] (2.3 km) long and connects the end of I-45 to the end of US 75 along the east side of downtown Dallas. It is signed northbound as US 75 and southbound as I-45.

Lane configuration

From south to north, the following are one-way lane counts are for mainlanes only:

• 3 lanes between Galveston and FM 1959
• 4 lanes between FM 1959 and US 59
• 3 lanes between US 59 and McKinney Street
• 4 lanes between McKinney Street and Beltway 8
• 5 lanes between Beltway 8 and Parramatta Lane
• 4 lanes between Parramatta Lane and Spring Crossing Drive
• 5 lanes between Spring Crossing Drive and Lake Woodlands Drive
• 4 lanes between Lake Woodlands Drive and S Loop 336
• 2 lanes between S Loop 336 and exit 243
• 3 lanes between exit 243 and US 175
• 5 lanes between US 175 and I-30
• 4 lanes between I-30 and the beginning of the Central Expressway

History

In the initial assignment of state highways in 1917, Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston were connected by a branch of State Highway 2 (the Meridian Highway), which ran via Waco and Bryan and continued on to Galveston. The more direct route followed by I-45 was not initially part of the system between Richland and Huntsville;^[11][12] this cutoff was added by 1919 as State Highway 32,^[13] and U.S. Highway 75 was assigned to the alignment in 1926.^[14] Prior to the coming of the Interstate Highway System in the late 1950s, the only improvements to US 75 in Texas beyond building a two-lane paved roadway were in the Houston and Dallas areas.^[15] However, the highways in and near these cities included some of the first freeways in the state: the Gulf Freeway (Houston) and the Central Expressway (Dallas).

Gulf Freeway (Houston to Galveston)

The Galveston-Houston Electric Railway began operating an interurban between those cities on December 5, 1911, and last ran on October 31, 1936, though the Houston Electric Company, operator of Houston's city transit system, continued to run trains on the portion between downtown and Park Place. A proposal for a "super-highway" between the cities was first made in 1930, and Houston Mayor Oscar Holcombe began to work towards it later that decade. He announced an agreement with the Houston Electric Company on April 12, 1940, through which the company could convert its four remaining lines to buses, in exchange for the right-of-way used by the Park Place line. This line was last used on June 9, 1940, the last day of streetcar service in Houston;^[16] the replacement is still operated by METRO as the 40 along Telephone Road.

Before the new highway was built, U.S. Highway 75 followed Galveston Road (now mostly State Highway 3), Broadway Street, and Harrisburg Boulevard into downtown Houston. State Highway 225 carried traffic from La Porte along La Porte Road to US 75 in Harrisburg, and State Highway 35 connected Alvin with downtown Houston along Telephone Road and Leeland Street.^[17] Plans made in October 1943, when the Texas Transportation Commission signed an agreement with Houston and Harris County, referred to the new bypass as a relocation of US 75. Drawings were released by the state on January 31, 1946, and included almost continuous frontage roads, broken only at railroad crossings.^[16] Although the freeway ended at Live Oak Street, a so-called "four-street distribution system"^[18] of four one-way streets, timed for 30 miles per hour (50 km/h), carried traffic to Main Street.^[19] Initially, the two southwestern streets — Pierce Street and Calhoun Avenue (now St. Joseph Parkway) - carried traffic towards the freeway, and the other two — Jefferson and Pease Streets — carried exiting traffic;^[20] once the freeway was completed far enough to allow US 75 to be marked along it, Pease and Pierce Streets carried that highway to Fannin Street.^[21]

The first freeway dedication in the state took place at 7 p.m. on September 30, 1948, at the overpass over Calhoun Road by the University of Houston. The roadway between downtown and Telephone Road was opened to traffic after speeches, but lacked an official name, being called the "Interurban Expressway", after the rail line that it replaced, by the press. Mayor Holcombe quickly started a contest to assign a name, and the city chose the winning entry on December 17, 1948. Sara Yancy of Houston Heights won $100 for her submission of "Gulf Freeway", named for the Gulf of Mexico that the highway would reach when completed. The freeway was extended to Griggs Road in February 1951, Reveille Street (onto which SH 35 was realigned) in July 1951, and was completed to the Galveston Causeway on August 2, 1952, with a ceremony on the bridge over Farm to Market Road 517 near Dickinson. However, beyond Reveille Street, the road was not built to freeway standards, with 32 at-grade intersections, though no traffic signals. The highway curved away from the old interurban right-of-way near Monroe Road, about where the Park Place streetcar line had ended. In December 1952, a short spur, now part of Interstate 610, was opened to connect with SH 225.^[22] A three-way split in the northwest part of Park Place, near where Gulfgate Shopping Center opened in 1956, carried non-stop traffic to and from SH 35 and SH 225.^[16][23][24] This split was also the location of a lane drop; the roadway carried six lanes (three in each direction) between Houston ond the interchange, and four beyond to Galveston. After the new US 75 was completed, the old road between downtown and South Houston was dropped from the state highway system, while the remainder became State Highway 3, connecting to the Gulf Freeway via Winkler Drive, effective August 20, 1952.^[25]

The first major change was made in preparation for the North Freeway connection, when the directions of Calhoun Avenue and Jefferson Street were swapped so that they would alternate. A bridge, dated 1954, was built to carry traffic from Jefferson Street over traffic to Jefferson Street,^[24] and US 75 was moved to Calhoun Avenue northbound,^[26] soon crossing downtown on the one-way pair of Calhoun Avenue and Pierce Street to the new North Freeway.^[27] A median barrier was added in 1956 to prevent crossover accidents. Southeast of downtown Houston, the at-grade intersections proved dangerous, and only two had been replaced with interchanges by 1959, when the Texas Highway Department began a program to upgrade the road to full freeway standards. Frontage roads would be required along the entire highway, since the state had not purchased access rights, and so abutting property owners were able to build driveways to the road. To accomplish this, traffic was shifted to the newly-built frontage roads so that the central main lanes could be reconstructed. This grade separation was completed from Houston to Almeda-Genoa Road (exit 34) in June 1959, Farm to Market Road 1959 (exit 30) in October 1964, Farm to Market Road 518 (exit 23) in December 1970, and Farm to Market Road 1764 (exit 15) in 1976. As the section beyond FM 1764 into Galveston had already been rebuilt,^[24][28] this marked the completion of the Gulf Freeway as an actual freeway.^[16]

As the first freeway in Texas, the standards of the Gulf Freeway soon became inadequate, with poor sight lines and little room to merge when entering. It also attracted development, such as Gulfgate Shopping City, the first mall in the Houston area, the Manned Spacecraft Center, and many residential developments. Heavy congestion began to affect the freeway by the early 1960s; two roughly parallel freeways — the Harrisburg Freeway and Alvin Freeway - were proposed at that time to relieve the traffic, but were not built. A short project to widen the road to six lanes between I-610 and Sims Bayou was completed in 1960, and ramp meters were installed in 1966. The I-610 interchange was rebuilt with direct connections for most movements in 1975. Plans to reconstruct the freeway near downtown began in 1972, taking about 170 houses and 22 businesses from the southwest side for the room to expand the main lanes and add parallel lanes for the Alvin Freeway. Local opposition was unsuccessful at stopping the project, and construction on this segment, and others to the southeast, took place in the 1980s. The lanes were shifted outward to make room for the transitway, which opened to I-610 on May 16, 1988. These lanes were inspired by the similar ones on the Shirley Highway in the Washington Metropolitan Area.^[29] That year also marked the end of the reconstruction inside I-610, along with the elevated distribution lanes alongside the main lanes near downtown; the first short piece of the Alvin Freeway was finally connected to these in 1999. This project gave I-45 its current configuration, mostly eight main lanes wide, from Sims Bayou past I-610 to Griggs Road in 1981, to Telephone Road in 1982, to Lockwood Drive in 1985, and finally to downtown in 1988.^[16]

However, this was not the end of construction on the Gulf Freeway. The highway beyond I-610 to FM 1959, which had just been upgraded in the 1950s and 1960s, saw an extension of the transitway to a temporary end near FM 1959, widening to eight lanes, and a large stack interchange at the Sam Houston Tollway. This reconstruction was completed between Almeda-Genoa Road and College Avenue in 1991, between College Avenue and Sims Bayou in 1994, and finally, in 1997, there was no construction anywhere on the entire length of the freeway when the tollway interchange was opened, along with the widening between Almeda-Genoa Road and FM 1959. A 1999 study recommended widening the entire stretch from the Sam Houston Tollway to Galveston to at least eight lanes. Construction to replace the Galveston Causeway began in mid-2003,^[16] and work on a section through Webster, including a new interchange with the NASA Road 1 Bypass, began in mid-2007. Widening between Beltway 8 and Webster is expected to begin in 2011.^[30]

North Freeway (Houston to Conroe)

The last alignment of US 75 before the North Freeway was built left downtown Houston to the northwest on Main Street, turning north at Airline Drive, and then northwest along the present alignment of I-45, then known as Stuebner Airline Road, Shepherd Drive, and East Montgomery Road.^[26] The freeway replacement was authorized in stages between May 1945 and June 1952, when the Texas Transportation Commission adopted plans for a freeway all the way between Houston and Dallas. The North Freeway name was adopted in 1956; an unsuccessful proposal in 1965 would have renamed it the Dallas Freeway.^[31] The first short piece of the freeway to open crossed Buffalo Bayou, connecting the two one-way pairs from the north end of the Gulf Freeway with the south end of Houston Avenue. This was opened on December 12, 1955, and allowed US 75 to bypass its run on Main Street;^[27] it included interchanges with Allen Parkway and Memorial Drive. The next piece near downtown opened on July 24, 1962, leaving the 1955 freeway in the Allen Parkway interchange, passing east of Houston Avenue, and connected to an already-built portion at I-610. The six-lane Pierce Elevated, which occupies half a block on the southwest side of Pierce Street, required the acquisition of a number of commercial properties; the cost prevented the full block from being used. This portion opened on August 18, 1967, connecting the Gulf and North Freeways and bypassing the "four-street distribution system", which remains in its original form to this day.^[16][32]

The first piece of the North Freeway to be built outside I-610 was an upgrade of existing US 75 on Stuebner Airline Road, between Airline Drive and Shepherd Drive, opened in December 1959. In April 1961, this was completed to the interchange with I-610, and on July 24, 1962 the downtown section was extended north to meet it. As each section opened, US 75 was moved to it, temporarily using I-610 to Airline Drive for about a year.^[33] At the other end, US 75 was upgraded from Spring Creek at the north edge of Spring north to the San Jacinto River south of Conroe in 1960.^[34] In between, the upgrade was completed from Farm to Market Road 525 to near Richey Road in December 1961, south to the 1959 segment in February 1963, and north to the 1960 segment in March 1963, completing the North Freeway except for the Pierce Elevated (1967). The freeway as initially built had eight lanes (four in each direction) between downtown and I-610, six to Farm to Market Road 1960, and four north of FM 1960.^[16]

Like the Gulf Freeway, the North Freeway soon became congested. The oil boom of the 1970s resulted in large-scale residential development along the highway, most notably The Woodlands. Since the corridor was strongly directional, with 65% of peak-hour traffic going in the peak direction, a 9.6-mile (15.4 km) contraflow lane for buses and other high-occupancy vehicles (HOV) was implemented later that decade, opening on August 28, 1979 between downtown and Shepherd Drive (exit 56B). The facility, operating during both rush hour periods, occupied the leftmost lane of the other direction, and was separated from the other lanes with a movable pylon every 40 feet (12 m). In 1980, the existing center breakdown lanes were restriped for HOV traffic for about two miles (3 km) from the north end of the contraflow lane. However, off-peak traffic was increasing, and construction began in 1983 on a more permanent reversible transitway in the median. This, the second transitway in Houston (a month after the one on the Katy Freeway), opened on November 23, 1984, replacing the contraflow lane.^[16][29]

Reconstruction of the main lanes and frontage roads to handle increased traffic began in 1982 just north of downtown. No lanes were added south of I-610, but the eight-lane cross section, with room for a transitway, was continued north as oonstruction progressed. Work was completed south of Airline Drive (exit 53) in about 1985, to Shepherd Drive (exit 56B) in 1987, and to Farm to Market Road 525 (exit 60A) in 1990; this last opening allowed the transitway to extend to just south of FM 525. The Hardy Toll Road, completed on June 28, 1988 between I-610 and I-45 near The Woodlands, added capacity to that part of the corridor, and in 1990 reconstruction was completed on a short piece of I-45 from the toll road into The Woodlands. Reconstruction continued from FM 525, reaching Airtex Boulevard (exit 63) in 1997, including part of the Sam Houston Tollway interchange (completed in 2003) and a transitway extension, Cypresswood Drive (exit 68) in 1998, extending the transit way to its present terminus, and the Hardy Toll Road (exit 72) in 2003. Work on the section through The Woodlands to Research Forest Drive (exit 77) was completed in 2001, including a direct connection to Woodlands Parkway, and in 2003 work was completed to Farm to Market Road 1488 (exit 81).^[16] Construction is presently ongoing between FM 1488 and Loop 336 (exit 84), with completion planned for late 2008. Two more projects will extend eight lanes to Farm to Market Road 830 (exit 92), and another will take six lanes to the county line south of New Waverly, near State Highway 75 (exit 98).^[35]

Between Conroe and Richland

The first part of I-45 between Conroe and Richland was the bypass around Huntsville.^[34]

The final piece of I-45 between the cities opened on October 13, 1971, for 12 miles (19 km) between Fairfield and Streetman.^[36]

Julius Schepps Freeway (Dallas) and to Richland

The Central Expressway was the first freeway in Dallas, built as a new alignment of US 75. It first opened between San Jacinto Street and Fitzhugh Avenue in 1949, and soon stretched south to Hutchins. However, the stretch through downtown ran along the surface, as did the part south of the bridge over the Trinity River, due to diversion of funds to the north portion.^[37] By the late 1950s, a bypass to the east of the downtown section was planned.^[38] By the time construction reached Hutchins, in about 1955, the state decided to build further segments to full freeway standards. By 1961, the freeway was complete between Hutchins and the State Highway 14 split at Richland, except for the bypass around Corsicana, which was built ca. 1964.^[24][34] This freeway was mostly built along the existing US 75; one of the projects in Navarro County, near Corsicana, was the first Interstate project in Texas approved under the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956.^[36]

It was not until 1964 that I-345, extending I-45 north along the proposed Central Expressway bypass, was added as a proposed state highway.^[10] I-45 and I-345 were built and opened in the 1970s, with the final section, between Lamar Street (exit 283A) and the Central Expressway (exit 283B),^[24] opening on February 25, 1976.^[39] At the north end, before it merged into the Central Expressway (which continued to carry US 75), I-345 straddled the bridges over Bryan Street and Ross Avenue, the latter the location of the opening ceremonies in 1949.^[40] Because of their location, these two bridges were not replaced in the 1990s reconstruction of the North Central Expressway, and are the only surviving grade separations from the initial construction north from downtown.^[24]

Reconstruction and widening to six lanes, from the Ellis-Navarro county line (between exits 243 and 244) north to State Highway 310 (exit 275), began in 1991.^[41] The last section, near the north end, was completed in 2002.^{[citation needed]}

Future expansions

Interstate 45 may expand into Kansas once US-route 75 and US route 69 are upgraded to interstate status up to the suburban side of Kansas City, Kansas.^{[citation needed]}

Exit list

References

1. ^ Texas Department of Transportation, Highway Designation File: Interstate Highway No. 45
2. ^ Tony Hartzel, The Dallas Morning News, Road names honor Texas leaders, July 7, 2002
3. ^ American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, List of Control Cities for Use in Guide Signs on Interstate Highways, 2001
4. ^ TexasFreeway - Interstate 45 South, the Gulf Freeway
5. ^ Houston Streetcars - Galveston-Houston Interurban
6. ^ Texas State Highway Department, General Highway Map - Harris County Texas, Supplementary Sheet 3 of 4, 1936 (revised to November 23, 1939
7. ^ Texas State Highway Department, General Highway Map - Galveston County Texas, 1936 (revised to November 23, 1939)
8. ^ Satellite image of Gulf Freeway and Interstate 610 interchange. Google Maps. Last accessed September 25, 2006.
9. ^ Clearing up confusion of multiple highway names Houston Chronicle, November 20, 2005.
10. ^ ^{a b} Texas Department of Transportation, Highway Designation File: Interstate Highway No. 345
11. ^ Commerce Journal, Highway Commission Adopts 25 Highways, July 6, 1917
12. ^ State Highway Department, Map Showing Proposed System of State Highways as Adopted June 1917
13. ^ Texas State Highway Department, Highway Map: State of Texas, October 1, 1919
14. ^ United States System of Highways, November 11, 1926
15. ^ Texas Highway Department, Official Travel Map, 1954 Edition
16. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j} Slotboom, Erik (2003). "Chapter 4: The Spokes". Houston Freeways: A Historical and Visual Journey. Oscar F. "Erik" Slotboom. ISBN 0974160539. http://www.houstonfreeways.com/.
17. ^ Rand McNally & Company, Houston, Texas, 1946, published by Sinclair Oil
18. ^ Chamber of Commerce of the United States, Business Action for Better Cities, 1952, p. 66
19. ^ American Association of State Highway Officials, Proceedings: Convention Group Meetings, Papers and Discussions, Kansas City, Missouri, 1952
20. ^ Texas Department of Transportation archive library, aerial view of the downtown end of the Gulf Freeway, 1953
21. ^ Rand McNally & Company, Houston, Texas, 1953, published by Sinclair Oil
22. ^ Slotboom, Erik (2003). "Chapter 5: The Loops". Houston Freeways: A Historical and Visual Journey. Oscar F. "Erik" Slotboom. ISBN 0974160539. http://www.houstonfreeways.com/.
23. ^ Texas Department of Transportation archive library, aerial view of the Gulfgate Shopping Center, ca. 1960s
24. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory, 2006
25. ^ Texas Department of Transportation, Highway Designation File: State Highway No. 3
26. ^ ^{a b} General Drafting Company, Houston, 1955, published by Humble Oil
27. ^ ^{a b} General Drafting Company, Houston, 1958, published by Humble Oil
28. ^ Texas State Highway Department, General Highway Map: Galveston County, Texas, 1957 (state highways revised to January 1, 1961)
29. ^ ^{a b} Slotboom, Erik (2003). "Chapter 6: Freeway Mass Transit". Houston Freeways: A Historical and Visual Journey. Oscar F. "Erik" Slotboom. ISBN 0974160539. http://www.houstonfreeways.com/.
30. ^ Texas Department of Transportation, Reconstruction of IH 45—Gulf Freeway in Webster Announced, June 11, 2007
31. ^ Slotboom, Erik (2003). "Chapter 1: Building the System". Houston Freeways: A Historical and Visual Journey. Oscar F. "Erik" Slotboom. ISBN 0974160539. http://www.houstonfreeways.com/.
32. ^ Slotboom, Erik (2003). "Chapter 3: Downtown Freeways". Houston Freeways: A Historical and Visual Journey. Oscar F. "Erik" Slotboom. ISBN 0974160539. http://www.houstonfreeways.com/.
33. ^ General Drafting Company, Houston, Texas, 1961, published by Humble Oil
34. ^ ^{a b c} General Drafting Company, Texas, 1961, published by Humble Oil
35. ^ Rad Sallee, Houston Chronicle, Rail on Richmond idea first rejected back in '83, April 23, 2006
36. ^ ^{a b} Federal Highway Administration, Previous Interstate Facts of the Day, accessed August 2007
37. ^ Urban History: Central Expressway, accessed August 2007
38. ^ Dallas Times Herald, City Seeks Freeway Project, June 22, 1958
39. ^ Dallas Morning News, Interstate 45 to Open Feb. 25, February 15, 1976
40. ^ Dallas Morning News, North Central Turns 35 Today, August 19, 1984
41. ^ Tony Hartzel, Dallas Morning News, Road to Better Driving, October 29, 2000

External links

• METRO - Gulf Freeway HOV system & map

Categories: Highways in the Dallas – Fort Worth Metroplex | Interstate Highway System | Interstate Highways in Texas | Transportation in Houston, Texas | Transportation in Galveston, Texas | Highways in Dallas, Texas

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• Regions of Texas
• San Marcos, Texas
• Texas Hill Country
• Texas: Encyclopedia
• Guadalupe River (Texas)

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