Texas State Highway 3
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| State Highway 3 |
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| Length: | 30.4 mi[1] (48.9 km) | ||||||||
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| Formed: | 1939[1] | ||||||||
| South end: |  SH 146 in La Marque |
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| Major junctions: |
 Beltway 8 near Ellington Field |
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| North end: |  I-45 in Houston |
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State Highway 3, or SH 3, is a state highway in the U.S. state of Texas that runs from Interstate 45 in Houston near William P. Hobby Airport to State Highway 146, 9.9 miles (15.9 km) northwest of Galveston. For most of its length, SH 3 parallels I-45 and runs alongside the former Galveston, Houston and Henderson Railroad lines.
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[edit] History
SH 3 was one of the original twenty six state highways proposed in 1917, overlayed on top of the Southern National Highway. From 1919, the routing mostly followed present day U.S. Highway 90 from Orange to Houston and San Antonio through to Del Rio. The road at this time also had numerous alternate routes simultaneously marked as SH 3, along with occasionally signed SH 3A routes (although most of those routes were given their own numbers by the 1930s).
In 1926, US 90 was routed over SH 3 to Del Rio. Its route was extended along US 90 through Sanderson, Alpine to a final terminus at Van Horn. While the routes were marked concurrently, by 1939, SH 3 was truncated to a small route running from Seguin, Luling to Waelder. By 1952, the original route ceased to be, and the present day routing was assigned.
SH 3 is sometimes referred to as Old Galveston Road, indicating its function as a thoroughfare between Houston and Galveston.
[edit] Route description
SH 3 begins in Galveston County, south of La Marque near the Texas City Industrial Complex at a junction with SH 146. The highway heads to the northwest through La Marque intersecting FM 519 and FM 1765 before an interchange with FM 1764 (Emmett F. Lowry Expressway). The highway roughly parallels to the east of I-45 as it heads towards Dickinson. In Dickinson, the highway intersects FM 517 and FM 646 before entering the League City city limits. In League City, SH 3 has junctions with SH 96 and [[Farm to Market Road 518|FM 518, and head northwest into Harris County.
The first junction in Harris County is with NASA Road 1, which provides access to the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center. The highway continues to the northwest to an intersection with FM 2351 and passes along the western boundary of Ellington Field. Heading northwest, the highway enters Houston city limits and has a junction with Beltway 8 (Sam Houston Tollway). The highway continues to the northwest through South Houston until it reaches an intersection with Winkler Drive. The highway turns to the west and follows Winkler Drive to its northern terminus at an interchange with I-45.[2]
[edit] Junction List
| County | Location | Mile[2] | Junction | Notes |
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| Galveston | La Marque | 0.0 | SH 146 |
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| 1.3 |  FM 519 (Main Street) |
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| 3.1 |  FM 1765 |
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| 4.7 |  FM 1764 (Emmett F. Lowry Expressway) |
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| 8.6 |  FM 2004 |
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| Dickinson | 10.7 |  FM 517 (Main Street) |
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| 12.4 |  FM 646 |
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| League City | 13.4 |  SH 96 (League City Parkway) |
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| 14.8 |  FM 518 (Main Street) |
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| Harris | Webster | 17.4 |  SH NASA Road 1 |
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| 21.1 |  FM 2351 (Clear Lake City Boulevard) |
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| 23.0 |  FM 1959 |
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| Houston | 23.8 |  FM 2553 (Scarsdale Boulevard) |
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| 24.4 | Beltway 8 (Sam Houston Tollway) |
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| 30.4 | I-45 (Gulf Freeway) – Galveston, Houston |
[edit] References
- ^ a b Texas Department of Transportation. Highway Designation File - State Highway No. 3. Retrieved on 2008-03-10.
- ^ a b Google Maps. Overview map of SH 3 [map]. Retrieved on 2008-03-10.
