Texas State Highway 7

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State Highway 7
Length:	212.7[1] mi (342.3 km)
Formed:	1939[1]
West end:	I-35 in Bruceville-Eddy
Major junctions:	US 77 in Chilton US 79 Marquez I-45 Centerville US 287 Crockett US 69 Pollok US 59 Nacogdoches US 96 Center
East end:	US 84 Joaquin
Highways in Texas < SH 6 SH 8 > < SH 138 SH 139 SH 140 >

State Highway 7 is an east-west state highway that runs from Interstate 35 south of Waco to U.S. Route 84 about 3 miles (5 km) west of the Texas-Louisiana state line. Between Crockett and Nacogdoches, SH 7 passes through the Davy Crockett National Forest.

[edit] Previous Routes

SH 7 was one of the original twenty six state highways proposed in 1917, proposed as a 'Central Texas Highway.' In 1919 the routing was mostly proposed between San Angelo and Goldthwaite, but only the segment to Paint Rock was created. From Goldthwaite, the road parallels U.S. Route 84 to Waco. The remainder follows SH 164 to Buffalo, was unbuilt between Buffalo and Jasper, and U.S. Route 190 to the State Line.

Possibly due to the amount of construction necessary to build this route as proposed, by 1919 the road was completely rerouted via the current U.S. Route 84 through Lubbock to Sweetwater. Between Sweetwater and Coleman, the road was not constructed as proposed. SH 7 returns to US 84, through Waco to Palestine, heads south on U.S. Route 287 to Crockett, turns to Lufkin via the current SH 7 then SH 103 and finally onto Jasper and Newton via present day U.S. Route 69, SH 63 and US 190.

In 1926, U.S. Route 70, 80, and 67 were overlaid over pieces of SH 7. While the entirety of the SH 7 maintained its number, the road had been realigned yet again, mainly due to constructions issues. The Sweetwater-Coleman road was never built, and SH 7 was rerouted over existing roads into Abilene. From Long Lake, the road was rerouted on present day SH 294 into Alto, SH 21 to Nacogdoches, ending in Joaquin via current SH 7.

By 1939 most of the highway had been overrun by a patchwork of US Highways, leaving only a small portion from Joaquin to Crockett remaining, rerouted yet again to a more southerly route from Nacogdoches. The road was slowly extended northwest, absorbing SH 139 in 1948, reaching its current routing by 1990.

SH 7A was a spur route of SH 7 that split off at Coleman and traveled southwest through San Angelo to Fort Stockton. It was transferred to portions of SH 23, SH 30, and SH 99 by 1933.

SH 7B was a spur route of SH 7 that split off at Lufkin and traveled southwest through Groveton to Trinity. By 1933 it had been renumbered SH 94.

[edit] References

1. ^ ^{a b} Texas Department of Transportation, [1]