U.S. Highway 90 Alternate is an alternate route to U.S. Highway 90 in Texas, United States, running from west of Seguin east via Seguin, Gonzales, Hallettsville, Eagle Lake, Rosenberg and Sugar Land to northeastern Houston. South of Downtown Houston, US 90 Alternate is built to freeway and near-freeway standards along a section of South Main Street.
  Alternate U.S. Highway 90 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 US 90 Alternate, highlighted in red | ||||
| Route information | ||||
| Maintained by TxDOT | ||||
| Length | 175.29 mi[1] (282.10 km) | |||
| Existed | 1942[1]–present | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| West end |   US 90 / FM 464 west of Seguin | |||
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| East end |  I-10 / US 90 in Houston | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | United States | |||
| State | Texas | |||
| Counties | Guadalupe, Gonzales, Lavaca, Colorado, Wharton, Fort Bend, Harris | |||
| Highway system | ||||
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Route description
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US 90 Alternate begins at U.S. Highway 90 and Farm to Market Road 464 west of Seguin and heads east through downtown Seguin on Court Street. (US 90 travels on Kingsbury Street, just 15 blocks to the north.) From Seguin to Rosenberg, US 90 Alternate passes through mainly rural areas.
Just west of downtown Rosenberg, it merges with Spur 529, part of US Highway 59 until 1976.[2] US 59 used to run concurrent with US 90 Alternate between Rosenberg and southwest of downtown Houston, but it was relocated to the US 59 as construction of the freeway between Houston and Rosenberg was completed in stages from 1961 to 1976. In 2017, US 90 Alternate and FM 1640 were converted to a one-way pair in Rosenberg, with US 90 Alternate carrying westbound traffic and FM 1640 carrying eastbound traffic.
After Rosenberg, US 90 Alternate passes through Richmond, Sugar Land, Stafford and Missouri City before entering Houston. US 90A in Sugar Land between State Highway 6 and the Southwest Freeway is an 8 lane boulevard with at-grade signalized intersections. A section in Stafford from the Southwest Freeway to Promenade Boulevard (east of Dulles Avenue) is a short controlled access highway similar in design to the one which stretches from Present Street to the South Loop. There it crosses the Sam Houston Tollway into the Houston city limits and becomes South Main Street. A few miles down, the highway meets the current northern terminus of the Fort Bend Toll Road. The short controlled-access highway portion of US 90 Alternate—part of which has local access (right-in/right-out), but no median breaks – currently begins east of Present Street in Stafford just before the Sam Houston Tollway and ends just short of Interstate 610. The controlled access portion, with the section between I-610 to just west of Holmes Road was completed in 2002 and the section from just west of Holmes Road to just east of the Sam Houston Tollway completed in 2007 has 6 lanes without interior or exterior shoulder lanes, plus exit lanes and a maximum speed limit of 55 mph (89 km/h) for most of its length. These portions were previously a four-lane divided highway with exterior shoulder lanes, crossovers, and at grade crossings with major thoroughfares.[3]
North of I-610, US 90A becomes the widest street in Houston with 10 through lanes and several turning lanes. This section, previously a four-lane divided highway, was upgraded to its current width between 1999 and 2001.[4] The 10 lane right of way of US 90A between the Old Spanish Trail (OST) and the South Loop was planned to ease access to the NRG Park (formerly Reliant Park and the Astrodomain) complex parking lots west of NRG Stadium. Further north, US 90A splits from South Main Street onto the OST, becoming a six lane boulevard heading east to cross State Highway 288 (South Freeway) with a grade separated street-to-street intersection with Griggs Road, and meets the southern terminus of Spur 5 adjacent to the campus of the University of Houston. After crossing Spur 5, it turns into a four-lane undivided road, crossing Brays Bayou and turning northeast onto Wayside Drive, crossing Interstate 45 (Gulf Freeway). Between Polk Street until after crossing over the ship channel, it divides into two one-way streets. US 90 Alternate West (southbound) is Wayside Drive while US 90 Alternate East (northbound) goes down S/SGT Macario Garcia Drive (formerly 69th Street). At Interstate 10/U.S. Highway 90 (East Freeway), US 90 Alternate turns east to multiplex with I-10/US 90 for a short jog, then turning north onto McCarty Street. US 90 Alternate ends at the junction with Interstate 610 in northeastern Houston, where Business U.S. Highway 90-U continues northeast on McCarty Street.[5]
History
editUS 90 Alternate was designated on May 25, 1942, replacing SH 343. On March 28, 1952, the section from Columbus to Eagle Lake became part of FM 102. US 90A was instead rerouted over portions of SH 200 and SH 3.
Major intersections
edit| County | Location | mi | km | Destinations | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guadalupe | Seguin |  US 90 / FM 464 west – San Antonio, Luling | |||
  SH 46 to I-10 – New Braunfels | |||||
  Bus. SH 123 (Austin Street) | |||||
 FM 466 (King Street) | |||||
| SH 123 – San Marcos, Stockdale | |||||
| Old Seguin |   FM 1117 south | ||||
  FM 2438 north to I-10 – Kingsbury | |||||
  FM 1150 east – Darst Field | |||||
| Gonzales | Belmont |  SH 80 – Luling, Nixon | |||
| |  FM 2091 north – Palmetto State Park | west end of FM 2091 overlap | |||
| | FM 2091 south – Lake Wood Recreational Area | east end of FM 2091 overlap | |||
| Gonzales |   US 183 / SH 97 west – Luling, Cuero | west end of SH 97 overlap | |||
| Bus. US 183 (St. Joseph Street) | |||||
 FM 794 north (St. Paul Street) | |||||
 Spur 131 | |||||
| SH 97 east – Waelder | east end of SH 97 overlap | ||||
 Spur 146 west | |||||
 FM 532 east – Moulton | |||||
| |  FM 443 south – Dreyer | ||||
| Lavaca | |  FM 533 west | |||
| Shiner |  FM 3435 east (Sixteenth Street) | ||||
 SH 95 – Moulton, Yoakum | |||||
| |  FM 531 east | ||||
| |  FM 1891 west | ||||
| |   US 77 Alt. south – Yoakum | west end of US 77 Alt. overlap | |||
| |  FM 340 west – St. Mary's | ||||
| Hallettsville | US 77 south – Victoria | west end of US 77 overlap | |||
| US 77 north – Schulenburg | east end of US 77 overlap | ||||
 FM 530 south – Vienna, Edna | |||||
 FM 2314 east – Vsetin | |||||
| Sublime |  FM 3283 south | ||||
| |  FM 155 north – Weimar | ||||
| Colorado | Sheridan |  FM 2437 south | |||
| Altair |  SH 71 – Columbus, El Campo | ||||
| Eagle Lake |  FM Spur 102 north (McCarty Avenue) | ||||
 FM 102 north (Main Street) – Columbus | west end of FM 102 overlap | ||||
| FM 102 south | east end of FM 102 overlap | ||||
   FM 3013 to FM 1093 east – Sealy, Wallis, Wharton, Attwater Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge | |||||
| Colorado–Wharton county line | |  FM 2764 north – Chesterville | |||
| Wharton | Nottawa |  FM 1164 east | |||
| East Bernard |  SH 60 – Wallis, Wharton | ||||
| Fort Bend | Tavener |  FM 1952 north – Wallis | |||
| |  FM 1875 south – Beasley | ||||
| Rosenberg |  Spur 10 | ||||
 SH 36 north – Sealy | west end of SH 36 overlap | ||||
 Spur 529 south – Wharton | |||||
 SH 36 south / FM 723 north – Fulshear, Freeport | east end of SH 36 overlap | ||||
| Richmond |  FM 762 south (South Eleventh Street) – Crabb | ||||
 FM Loop 762 south (South Second Street) | |||||
| |  FM 359 north | ||||
| |   SH 99 (Grand Parkway) to FM 1464 – Clodine, Carol S. Vance Unit | ||||
| Sugar Land |   SH 6 – Missouri City, Galveston, Airport | interchange; former FM 1960 | |||
| Brooks Street | Former Spur 58[6][7] | ||||
 FM 1876 north (Eldridge Road) | |||||
| Dairy Ashford Road | Former Spur 41[6][7] | ||||
  I-69 / US 59 – Houston, Victoria | I-69/US 59 exit 112; interchange. | ||||
| Stafford | South Kirkwood Road / Dulles Avenue | interchange | |||
 FM 1092 (Murphy Road) | interchange | ||||
| Stafford Road / Staffordshire Road | interchange | ||||
| Missouri City |  FM 2234 (Texas Parkway) / South Gessner Road | limited-access highway starts before interchange. (Grade Separated) | |||
| Harris | Houston |   Beltway 8 (Frontage Road) / Sam Houston Tollway | interchange | ||
| Fondren Road | interchange | ||||
| Hillcroft Road | interchange | ||||
   Fort Bend Tollway south to Sam Houston Tollway / Chimney Rock Road | interchange | ||||
| South Post Oak Road | interchange | ||||
| Hiram Clarke Road / Holmes Road | interchange | ||||
| Stella Link Road / Willowbend Boulevard | interchange | ||||
| West Bellfort Avenue | limited-access highway ends after interchange | ||||
 I-610 | I-610 exit 2 | ||||
 FM 521 south (Almeda Road) | Former SH 288 | ||||
 SH 288 (South Freeway) | interchange | ||||
| Griggs Road | interchange | ||||
 FM 865 south (Cullen Boulevard) | Former FM 518 | ||||
  Spur 5 north to I-45 | |||||
| Produce Row | interchange | ||||
| I-45 (Gulf Freeway) – Conroe, Galveston | I-45 exit 42 | ||||
| Lawndale Street | interchange | ||||
| Zoltowski Street / Clinton Drive / Harbor Street | interchange | ||||
 I-10 west / US 90 west (East Freeway) | west end of I-10 overlap; US 90 Alt. west follows exit 773A | ||||
 I-10 east / US 90 east (East Freeway) | east end of I-10 overlap; US 90 Alt. east follows exit 773B | ||||
| I-610 (North Loop Freeway, East Loop Freeway) / Bus. US 90 east (North McCarty Street) | Eastern terminus; I-610 exit 24A northbound, 24 eastbound | ||||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
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See also
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References
edit- ^ a b Transportation Planning and Programming Division (n.d.). "U.S. Highway No. 90 Alternate". Highway Designation Files. Texas Department of Transportation. Retrieved February 17, 2011.
- ^ Transportation Planning and Programming Division (n.d.). "State Highway Spur No. 529". Highway Designation Files. Texas Department of Transportation. Retrieved December 25, 2022.
- ^ Houston Construction Update. Erik Slotboom, Houston Freeways. November 26, 2006. Last accessed November 27, 2006.
- ^ "Satellite image of South Main Street just north of the South Loop, Houston, Texas" (Map). Google Maps. Retrieved November 27, 2006.
- ^ Texas Department of Transportation, 1992 map of Harris County Texas (highways revised to January 1, 1994)
- ^ a b "USGS Map Name: Missouri City, TX". TopoQuest Map Viewer. Retrieved June 27, 2022.
- ^ a b Google. "Sugar Land". Google Maps. Google. Retrieved June 27, 2022.
External links
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- Feldstein, Dan. "South Main widening to `super street' may start in late '97/8-lane road not without opponents concerned with traffic, noise." Houston Chronicle. Monday August 12, 1996. A17.
- Staff. "Squeeze to be put on South Main commuters." Houston Chronicle. Thursday July 13, 2000. A27.