Farm to Market Road 521

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Farm to Market Road 521
Length: 94.612 [1] mi (152.26 km)
Formed: 1945 [1]
North end:
Alternate US 90 in Houston
Major
junctions:
I-610 South Loop in Houston
Beltway 8 in Houston
SH 6 in Arcola
SH 35 in Bailey's Prairie
East SH 332 (runs concurrently into Brazoria.
SH 36 in Brazoria (End of Highway 332)
SH 60 in Wadsworth
South end: SH 35 outside Palacios
Highways in Texas
< FM 520 FM 522 >

Farm to Market Road 521 is a state highway the U.S. state of Texas.

The road is one of the longest farm-to-market roads in the state at almost 95 miles. It starts at U.S. Highway 90A near downtown Houston and passes south and southwest through Harris, Brazoria, and Matagorda counties.

Inside Houston, the road has been designated as Urban Road 521, but the designation is only used in official state files. In Houston, it's known as Almeda Road. South of South MacGregor Way, Almeda Road has a wide median, and this was the originally proposed alignment for the South Freeway.[2][3]

In the future, the wide median of Almeda Road is the proposed location for the the exit lanes of the South Freeway future toll lanes. The exit lanes will travel north on Almeda road and cross over Holly Hall Street before merging with traffic on Almeda Road.[4]

Contents

[edit] Directional Change

From Alternate 90 in Houston to Business 288 in Bonney, FM 521 is signed North/South. From that intersection to the end of FM 521 in Palacios, the road is marked East/West.

[edit] Brazos River Bridge

FM 521 runs concurrently with State Highway 332 over the Brazos River bridge into Brazoria in Brazoria County. Plans are under way to build a new span as the old bridge has been there since the 1930s.

[edit] South Texas Project

FM 521 makes a half-loop around the South Texas Project nuclear plant, west of Wadsworth in Matagorda County. Parking along the highway is not allowed on a four mile stretch from the west to the east sides of the plant.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Texas Department of Transportation, [1]
  2. ^ Almeda Road at South MacGregor Way. Google Maps. Last accessed April 21, 2008.
  3. ^ South Freeway, SH 288 Erik Slotboom, HoustonFreeways.com. Last accessed April 21, 2008.
  4. ^ Big plans for 288, but it could be better. Tory Gattis, Houston Strategies. Published February 22, 2007. Last accessed April 21, 2008.