Texas State Highway 45

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This article contains information about a planned or expected future road.
It may contain information of a speculative nature and the content may change as the road's construction or completion approaches and more information becomes available.

State Highway 45

Length:

11.482 mi^[1] (18.478 km)

Formed:

1985

West end:

South:

RM 1826 in Austin
North:

RM 620 in Austin

Major
junctions:

North:

Loop 1
North:

I-35

East end:

South:

Loop 1 in Austin
North:

SH 130 in Austin

Highways in Texas
< I-45		SH 46 >

State Highway 45 is a planned highway loop around Austin, Texas that exists in two open segments. The official designation of SH 45 is such to form a complete loop around Austin, a distance of roughly 80 miles.

One segment is in southwest Austin and runs roughly southeast from Ranch to Market Road 1826 to the southern terminus of Loop 1 (Mopac Expressway). The roadway is a divided, four-lane facility with a wide median to accommodate future upgrade to a freeway, after which the current lanes would serve as frontage roads.

The northern segment is a tolled freeway that runs east from its intersection with U.S. Highway 183 in northwest Austin to State Highway 130 to the northeast. SH 45 is co-designated with SH 130 south to SH 130's current terminus at US 183 near Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (Sections of SH 130 are still under construction.).

1 Toll road expansion
2 History of the SH 45 designation
3 External links
4 References

[edit] Toll road expansion

SH 45 North is an approximately 13-mile, tolled freeway in the north Austin metropolitan area. The Texas Department of Transportation financed its construction through the 2002 Central Texas Turnpike Project (CTTP). TxDOT originally planned to complete construction of the 2002 CTTP around September 2007 but opened some sections of SH 45 North as early as October 31, 2006.

State Highway 45 interchange with Interstate 35 under construction.

The freeway's western terminus is at US 183 at Ranch to Market Road 620 northwest of Austin in Cedar Park, Texas. Heading east, it intercepts the Loop 1 northern terminus. For a distance, RM 620 travels concurrently with the expressway frontage roads co-designated as State Highway 45 (non-tolled). It crosses Interstate 35 and terminates at SH 130 northeast of Austin.

SH 45 Southeast is a planned 7.4-mile toll road southeast of Austin near Creedmoor, Texas. It is planned as a four lane, controlled-access facility that will link the SH 130/SH 45 southern terminus at US 183 to Interstate 35 north of Buda, Texas. It will roughly parallel Farm to Market Road 1327.

In 2006, development of the highway was delayed by a lawsuit filed by the environmental advocacy group Save Our Springs Alliance. By the summer of the same year, the Federal Highway Administration approved a new environmental impact study brought about by the lawsuit; a federal judge dismissed the case, clearing the way for construction of SH 45 Southeast, which could begin as early as the summer of 2007. Under optimal conditions, the roadway could be completed by the end of 2008.

SH 45 Southwest is a proposed toll road that would link the existing non-tolled State Highway 45 terminus at Loop 1 to Ranch to Market Road 1826 to the east. Even if built, SH 45 Southwest would not connect to the other tolled segments of the highway. A segment between RM 1626 and SH 45 Southeast at Interstate 35 would be necessary to do so.

This missing link was one source of controversy surrounding the alignment of SH 45 Southeast. Opponents claimed the proximity of the southwestern and southeastern sections would create more pressure to connect the two and that if built, the link would encourage development on or near environmentally sensitive lands.

[edit] History of the SH 45 designation

State Highway 45 was originally designated in 1919 as a route from Bryan to Jasper. By 1933, large portions of the highway were still under construction along the proposed route. By 1938, the road was complete from Roan's Prairie to the Louisiana border, with small portions remaining as a dirt road. Within the same year, the highway from Huntsville to Jasper had been transferred to U.S. Highway 190, the stretch from Jasper to the Louisiana border transferred to SH 63, and the section from Roan's Prairie to Huntsville redirected north to Crockett. In 1960, the stretch from Huntsville to Crockett was transferred to SH 19. The next year, the rest of SH 45 was cancelled and transferred to SH 30.