U.S. Route 59

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U.S. Route 59
Length:	1,911[1] mi (3,075.5 km)
Formed:	1934[1]
South end:	I-35/US 83 at Laredo, TX
Major junctions:	I-45/I-10 at Houston, TX I-20 near Marshall, TX I-30 near Texarkana, TX I-40 at Sallisaw, OK I-35 at Ottawa, KS I-70 at Lawrence, KS I-80 at Avoca, IA I-90 at Worthington, MN
North end:	MB 59 at Canadian border near Lancaster, MN
United States Numbered Highways

U.S. Route 59 is a north-south United States highway (though it is signed east-west in parts of Texas). A latecomer to the US numbered route system, U.S. 59 is now a border-to-border route. It parallels U.S. Route 75 for nearly its entire route, never much more than 100 miles away, until it veers southwest in Houston, Texas.

In Houston, residents often refer to highways by name. To the north, U.S. 59 is the Eastex Freeway. To the south, it is the Southwest Freeway, the busiest section of freeway in the United States with a vehicle count of nearly 400,000 daily.

Contents 1 Termini 2 Historic termini 3 States traversed 3.1 Texas 3.2 Arkansas 3.3 Oklahoma 3.4 Kansas 3.5 Missouri 3.6 Iowa 3.7 Minnesota 4 Business U.S. Route 59 5 Alternate routes 6 Intersections with Interstates 7 Related US Routes 8 Notes 9 References

[edit] Termini

As of 2004, the highway's northern terminus is 9 miles north of Lancaster, Minnesota at the Canadian border, where it continues as Manitoba Provincial Highway 59. Its southern terminus is in Laredo, Texas at an intersection with Interstate 35 and U.S. Route 83, just short of the Mexican border.

[edit] Historic termini

Before the 1960s, U.S. 59 headed northwest to U.S. 75, crossed the Red River of the North at St. Vincent and terminated at U.S. 81 in Pembina, North Dakota. A new highway and border crossing was built north of Lancaster on the present alignment. The former segment of U.S. 59 between Lancaster and U.S. 75 became Kittson County 6, and the extremely short segment between U.S. 75 and U.S. 81 became Minnesota State Highway 171 and North Dakota Highway 59.

From 1934 to 1935, the U.S. 59 designation referred to a 50-mile-long route across southeastern Minnesota, from Lake City, Minnesota to the Iowa border just short of Chester, Iowa. That entire route is now part of U.S. Route 63, and nowhere close to the present U.S. 59, established in 1935.^[1]

[edit] States traversed

Major cities
Laredo, Texas Beeville, Texas Victoria, Texas Sugar Land, Texas Houston, Texas Lufkin, Texas Nacogdoches, Texas Marshall, Texas Texarkana, Texas Texarkana, Arkansas Lawrence, Kansas Atchison, Kansas Saint Joseph, Missouri Shenandoah, Iowa Harlan, Iowa Denison, Iowa Cherokee, Iowa Worthington, Minnesota Marshall, Minnesota Fergus Falls, Minnesota Thief River Falls, Minnesota

The highway passes through the following states:

[edit] Texas

[edit] Arkansas

(with U.S. Route 270 from the Oklahoma State Line to Acorn and U.S. Route 71 from Acorn to Interstate 30 at Texarkana.

[edit] Oklahoma

[edit] Kansas

U.S. 59 passes through Lawrence, home of the University of Kansas Jayhawks.

[edit] Missouri

In Missouri, U.S. 59 roughly follows the Missouri River in the northwest corner of the state, from its entrance at Winthrop. In Saint Joseph the highway is paired with Interstate 229 through downtown. U.S. 59 departs from I-229 as Saint Joseph Avenue, joining with U.S. Route 71 at Interstate 29. The two highways then separate in Savannah. U.S. 59 then follows Interstate 29 very closely until turning northward at Craig. It exits the state ten miles north of Tarkio.

[edit] Iowa

In Iowa, U.S. 59 is a main north-south artery in the far western part of the state. It enters Iowa south of Shenandoah and junctions Interstate 80 at Avoca. It passes through the county seats of Harlan, Denison, and Cherokee. Except for small stretches of expressway near Denison and Holstein, the entire length of U.S. 59 in Iowa is an undivided two-lane road. U.S. 59 exits the state near Hawkeye Point, the highest point in the state of Iowa.

[edit] Minnesota

U.S. 59 enters Minnesota south of Worthington. It passes through rural western Minnesota for its entire length in the state. Some cities along the way include Marshall, Montevideo, and Morris. U.S. 59 junctions Interstate 94 at Fergus Falls. The two highways are briefly multiplexed. North of Fergus Falls, U.S. 59 passes through Detroit Lakes and Thief River Falls before ending at the Canadian border north of Lancaster

[edit] Business U.S. Route 59

• Texarkana, Texas (decommissioned)
• Carthage, Texas
• Nacogdoches, Texas
• Lufkin, Texas
• Cleveland, Texas
• Victoria, Texas

[edit] Alternate routes

Though it is not signed as an Alternate US Route, Highway 59 parallels US 59 between Siloam Springs and Fort Smith, Arkansas. U.S. 59 and U.S. Route 412 are co-signed in Oklahoma for 10 miles, then US 59 turns south right at the Arkansas border. One mile into Arkansas, AR 59 also turns south from U.S. 412. U.S. 59 bears east to Sallisaw, Oklahoma, while AR 59 hugs the border to Fort Smith. From there, the official U.S. 59 is 10 miles west down U.S. Route 271 (in Oklahoma), or 60 miles south down U.S. Route 71 (at Mena, Arkansas).

[edit] Intersections with Interstates

• Interstate 35 in Laredo, Texas
• Interstate 37 east of George West, Texas
• Interstate 610 in Houston, Texas (twice)
• Interstate 45 in Houston, Texas
• Interstate 10 in Houston, Texas
• Interstate 20 south of Marshall, Texas
• Interstate 30 in Texarkana
• Interstate 40 in Sallisaw, Oklahoma
• Interstate 44 near Afton, Oklahoma
• Interstate 70 in Lawrence, Kansas
• Interstate 229 in St. Joseph, Missouri (multiplexed for 2 miles (3 km))
• Interstate 29 north of St. Joseph, Missouri (multiplexed for 3 miles (5 km))
• Interstate 229 north of St. Joseph, Missouri, at intersection of I-29 and I-229
• Interstate 29, four times between Craig, Missouri and Savannah, Missouri, including a 2 mile (3 km) multiplex near Richville, Missouri
• Interstate 80 in Avoca, Iowa
• Interstate 90 in Worthington, Minnesota
• Interstate 94 in Fergus Falls, Minnesota

[edit] Related US Routes

• U.S. Route 159
• U.S. Route 259

[edit] Notes

• U.S. 59 originally crossed into North Dakota at Pembina until the early 1950s.
• U.S. 59 actually straddles the border between Texas and Arkansas near Texarkana, with the east side of the highway in Arkansas and the west side of the highway on the Texas side.
• A large portion of U.S. 59 is proposed to become part of the future extension of Interstate 69 through Texas.
• In Texas, U.S. 59 is nicknamed the Lloyd Bentsen Highway.

[edit] References

		edit Main U.S. Routes
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19
20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38
40	41	42	43	44	45	46		48	49	50	51	52	53	54	55	56	57	58	59
60	61	62	63	64	65	66	67	68	69	70	71	72	73	74	75	76	77	78	79
80	81	82	83	84	85		87		89	90	91	92	93	94	95	96	97	98	99
101		163						400				412				425
Lists		U.S. Routes - Bannered - Divided - Replaced

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