page_title: Interstate 69
section_title: Texas
hierarchical_section_title: Interstate 69 / Planned and delayed extensions / Texas
caption_attribution_description: English: Perspective of I-69/US-59 North From westbound i-610 North Loop East
context_page_description: Interstate 69 is an Interstate Highway in the United States currently consisting of ten disjointed parts with an original continuous segment from Indianapolis, Indiana, northeast to the Canada–US border in Port Huron, Michigan, at 355.8 miles. The remaining separated segments are variously completed and posted or unposted sections of an extension southwest to the Mexican border in Texas. Of this extension—nicknamed the NAFTA Superhighway because it would help trade with Canada and Mexico spurred by the North American Free Trade Agreement—five pieces near Corpus Christi, Houston, northwestern Mississippi, Memphis, and Evansville have been built or upgraded and signposted as I-69. A sixth segment of I-69 through Kentucky utilizing that state's existing parkway system and a section of I-24 was established by federal legislation in 2008, but only a portion is signposted. This brings the total length to about 720 miles.
context_section_description: In Texas, I-69 planning has become part of the Trans-Texas Corridor (TTC) studies. This part of the TTC, called I-69/TTC, includes I-69 and all of its spurs authorized by Congress. It will extend from three border crossings, at Laredo, Pharr, and Brownsville, along US 59, US 281, and US 77 towards Victoria. After the three branches join, I-69 will continue along the general US 59 corridor through Houston to Tenaha, where it will turn easterly to Louisiana along US 84. In metro Houston, I-69 will follow the US 59 freeway corridor through town. A branch (I-369) continues north on US 59 from Tenaha to Texarkana, where it will eventually connect to Interstates 30 and 49. Most of the proposed I-69 route in Texas already exists as four-lane highways, with a lengthy freeway section stretching north and south of Houston along US 59 and shorter freeway sections of US 77, US 83, and US 281 in the Rio Grande Valley.
  The I-69/TTC project has been split into 15 SIUs, which match the original ones but do not share numbers. SIUs 1 to 8 (original 16 to 23) cover the mainline along the "Interstate 69 East" branch to the Mexican border at Brownsville. The "Interstate 69 Central" branch to Pharr is SIUs 9, 11, and 12 (original 24 to 26). The "Interstate 369" and "Interstate 69 West" branches to Texarkana and the Mexican border at Laredo, respectively are SIUs 13 and 14 (original 29 and 30), and two connections to Brownsville and Pharr are SIUs 10 and 15 (original 31 and 32). The I-69/TTC study also includes SIU L-CC, a connection between Freer and Corpus Christi that was not in the 2000 study. The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) originally considered building the I-69/TTC over new terrain paralleling US 59, US 77, and US 281.
  Responding to widespread opposition from environmental groups and property rights activists, TxDOT announced in June 2008 that it will complete I-69 by upgrading the existing US 59, US 77, and US 281 roadways to Interstate standards through rural areas, with bypasses around urban centers along the route. Instead of building the Trans-Texas Corridor as originally planned, TxDOT now plans to finance upgrading the existing highways to I-69 through private sector investment. Under the proposed arrangement, I-69 would remain toll-free where it overlaps pre-existing highways, while bypasses of cities may be tolled. The private firms awarded contracts for I-69 would also build and operate toll roads throughout the state; some of those revenues would then be applied to I-69 construction.
  A stated goal of TxDOT's I-69 initiative is that "existing suitable freeway sections of the proposed system be designated as I-69 as soon as possible." In response to TxDOT's request, a six-mile (9.7 km) segment of US 77 between I-37 and State Highway 44 (SH 44) near Corpus Christi was approved for "I-69" designation by FHWA in August 2011, and was approved by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) in October 2011; signage was posted at an official ceremony on December 5, 2011; it was re-signed as I-69E on May 29, 2013.
  At the May 18, 2012, meeting of AASHTO, 35 miles (56 km) of US 59 from I-610 in Houston to Fostoria Road in Liberty County were also approved as ready for I-69 signage.
  On May 29, 2013, the Texas Transportation Commission gave approval to naming completed Interstate-standard segments of US 77 and US 281 as I-69. US 77 through Cameron and Willacy counties will be signed as I-69E, including 52 miles (84 km) of existing freeway starting at the Rio Grande in Brownsville and running north past Raymondville. The 13 miles (21 km) of US 281 freeway in Pharr and Edinburg will be signed as I-69C.
  The section of US-59 inside the I-610 loop that runs through downtown Houston was approved by the FHWA for designation as I-69 on March 9, 2015, and approved for signage as such by the Texas Transportation Commission on March 24, 2015.
caption: Upcoming connection from I-610, the North Loop to I-69 in Houston
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