Texas State Highway 6

State Highway 6
Route information
Maintained by TxDOT
Length: 476.4 mi[1] (766.7 km)
Existed: 1939[1] – present
Major junctions
South end: I-45 / SH 146 in La Marque
 

I-10 in Houston
I-35 in Waco

I-20 in Eastland
North end: SH-6 north of Quanah
Highway system

Highways in Texas
Interstate • U.S. • TX (LoopsSpursRecFM)

SH 5 SH 7
SH 156 SH 157 SH 158

State Highway 6 (abbreviated as SH 6) runs from the Red River, the Texas–Oklahoma boundary, to northwest of Galveston. In the Houston area, it runs north to FM 1960, then northwest along US Highway 290 to Hempstead, and south to Westheimer Road and Addicks, and is known as Addicks Satsuma Road. In the BryanCollege Station area, it is known as the Earl Rudder Freeway. In Hearne, it is known as Market Street. For most of its length, SH 6 is not a limited-access road.

In 1997, the Texas Legislature designated SH 6 as the Texas Korean War Veterans Memorial Highway.[2]

Contents

History

Historic routes

State Highway 6 was one of the original 26 state highways proposed in 1917, overlying the King of Trails Highway. From 1919, the routing mostly followed present-day U.S. Highway 75 from Oklahoma to Dallas, then U.S. Highway 77 to Waco.

Current routes

In 1926, SH 6 was extended along the eastern Gulf Division branch of State Highway 2 to keep SH 2 from having two separate highways with the same number. US 75 and US 77 were overlaid on northern SH 6 from Waco northward through the Dallas area to Denison. While the routes were marked concurrently, the concurrent SH 6 kept its numbering until 1939, when SH 6 was truncated to the Gulf Division routing ending at Waco. It was rerouted south from Hempstead to Galveston, replacing SH 38 from Sugar Land to Galveston. In 1945, the roadway was extended northwest to Breckenridge over SH 67, continuing northwest to near Throckmorton along SH 157, which was decommissioned. Also in 1945, the section in southeast Texas between Hempstead and Sugar Land was cancelled for unknown reasons, and transferred to Farm to Market Road 359. In 1952, the route was truncated on the north side, ending at Breckenridge. This section was transferred to U.S. Highway 183. In 1968, the section between Hempstead and Sugar Land was re-established, as it was routed along U.S. Highway 290 until it reached Farm to Market Road (FM) 1960, then replacing FM 1960 southward to where the southern branch of SH 6 intersected U.S. Highway 59 in Sugar Land. In the early 1970s, the northern section underwent a massive rerouting due to realignments of numerous U.S. and state routes. In 1971, the section from Breckenridge south to Eastland was redesignated as State Highway 69. It was instead rerouted west along U.S. Highway 80 to Cisco, then replaced U.S. Highway 380 northwest to near Old Glory. The route was again extended in 1975, replacing State Highway 283 between Old Glory and Stamford northward to the Texas/Oklahoma border, completing the current routing of SH 6.[3]

Business routes

SH 6 has four business routes.

Business State Highway 6-N (formerly Loop 23) is a business loop that runs from SH 6 near Marlin in central Texas. The road was bypassed in 1978 by SH 6 and designated Loop 23. The road was redesignated as Business SH 6-N in 1991.[4][5]

Business State Highway 6-R (formerly Loop 507) is a business loop that runs through Bryan and College Station. The route runs on Texas Avenue in both cities. The route, created in 1972 when SH 6 was routed further north and east, is 12.5 miles (20.1 km) long.[6] It serves as the eastern boundary of Texas A&M University.

Business State Highway 6-S (formerly Loop 508) is a business loop that runs through Navasota on La Salle Avenue. The route was created in 1972 when SH 6 was rerouted further north and east around town; it is 6.3 miles (10.1 km).[7]

A business loop was added in 2010 in Reagan when the existing SH 6 was rerouted southwest around town; as of January 1, 2011, however, this route has not been added to the Highway Designation File.

Route description

SH 6 begins at an intersection with Interstate 45 and SH 3 in Bayou Vista, and proceeds to the northwest, paralleling the ATSF railroad tracks. The highway makes a mostly straight line through Galveston, Brazoria, and Fort Bend Counties, passing through the city of Alvin. As the highway reaches Sugar Land, it makes a turn to the north after passing intersections with US Route 59 and Alternate US Route 90. The highway continues north into western Harris County, reaching the Westpark Tollway and Interstate 10. It then intersects US Route 290 in CyFair, joining it as they travel to the northwest, thus finishing a large routing around the southern and western portions of Houston. The route continues northwest with US 290 as a limited-access highway. At Hockley, the highway veers to the right, forking from an old alignment of the highway, and bypassing the cities of Waller and Hempstead to the north. At Hempstead, it splits from US 290 and turns northward into Grimes County, where it bypasses the city of Navasota, while Business SH 6 passes through town. The highway then turns northwest again, crossing into Brazos County. As of 2009, construction of new freeway lanes are almost complete between the end of the existing freeway at FM 159 and Business SH 6 on the north side of Navasota Bypass, making the entire trek from the Grimes/Brazos County line to the Brazos/Robertson County line a complete freeway. The highway starts another bypass here, going around the Bryan/College Station area to the northeast, while the business route goes through these cities. On the northeast side of Bryan, the highway meets US Route 190, and they travel together to the northwest out of the region. SH 6 splits with US 190 in the town of Hearne, but joins US Route 79 before that route splits to the northeast about a mile north of town. As of 2008, SH 6 was under reconstruction, making the road four lanes from Hearne to the end of the four-lane highway just south of Marlin, including a bypass around Reagan and a proposed bypass for Calvert. SH 6 then continues northwest, traveling through lesser populated farmlands, before approaching Waco. Before entering Waco, it turns southeast on State Loop 340, and bypasses Waco to the south. It reaches an intersection with Interstate 35, and then turns to the northwest again, crossing over Lake Waco. The highway continues northwest and west through more farmland regions in Central Texas, before reaching an intersection with Interstate 20 just south of Eastland. The route briefly turns west, traveling along the former route of US Route 80, before turning back to the northwest at Cisco. As it continues, it is briefly concurrent with US Routes 180 and 277 in northcentral Texas. Just northwest of Stamford, the highway makes its final turn to the north at an intersection with SH 283. The highway then travels through sparsely populated areas of Haskell, Knox, Foard, and Hardeman Counties before ending north of Quanah at the Red River, where it meets Oklahoma State Highway 6.

Junction list

County Location Mile[8] Junction Notes
Galveston Bayou Vista 0.0 I-45 / SH 146
Hitchcock 4.9 FM 519 (Main Street)
5.9 FM 2004
Santa Fe 9.2 FM 646 (Main Street)
9.7 FM 646 (Avenue M)
Arcadia 11.2 FM 1764
Brazoria Alvin 18.7 SH 35 (Alvin Bypass)
19.8 Bus. SH 35-C (Gordon Street)
Manvel 27.0 FM 1128 (Masters Road)
29.8 SH 288
Fort Bend Arcola 33.9 FM 521
37.0 Fort Bend Parkway Toll Road
Missouri City 41.6 FM 1092
Sugar Land 45.7 US 59 (Southwest Freeway)
Spur 58 (Brooks Street)
47.8
US 90 Alt.
Harris Houston 54.3 Westpark Tollway
56.3 FM 1093 (Westheimer Road)
59.7 I-10 (Katy Freeway) – San Antonio, Houston
66.3 FM 529 (Tarpon Drive)
69.6 US 290 east (Northwest Freeway) / FM 1960 South end of US 290 concurrency, begin freeway
70.5 Hempstead Road, Huffmeister Road
72.1 Telge Road
73.9 Barker-Cypress Road
75.7 Skinner Road, Spring-Cypress Road
Cypress 76.1
US 290 Bus. / Spring-Cypress Road / Cypress-Rosehill Road
No southbound exit
77.2 Mueschke Road
78.8 Mason Road
81.4 Bauer Road
82.6 Becker Road
Hockley 83.7 Roberts Road, Katy Hockley Road
84.8 Badtke Road
85.7 Hegar Road
86.7 Kermier Road
87.9 Kickapoo Road
89.1 Binford Road
Waller 90.2 FM 2920 – Waller, Tomball
91.1 Field Store Road
Waller 91.9 FM 362
93.9 James Muse Parkway
95.3 FM 1098 – Prairie View
96.7 Liendo Parkway
98.8 FM 359 – Brookshire
99.4 FM 1488 – Hempstead, Magnolia
Hempstead 101 US 290 west – Austin North end of US 290 concurrency, end freeway
105 FM 1736
107 FM 2979
Grimes 112 FM 2
114 FM 1227
115 FM 2988
117 Bus. SH 6-S
Navasota 120 SH 105 Begin freeway
121 SH 90
122 FM 3090
123 Bus. SH 6-S Begin freeway
Brazos 126 FM 2154
Harlan Road
Westward Ho
Navasota Ridge
132 FM 159 (Peach Creek Road)
Texas World Speedway
College Station SH 40 (William D. Fitch Parkway)
Barron Road
Rock Prairie Road
Bus. SH 6-R (Texas Avenue)
FM 2818 (Harvey Mitchell Parkway) / Emerald Parkway
Southwest Parkway, Raintree Drive
SH 30 (Harvey Road) – Huntsville
FM 60 (University Drive) – Texas A&M University
Bryan FM 1179 (Briarcrest Drive) – Brazos Center
FM 158 (William J Bryan Parkway/Boonville Road)
Martin Luther King Jr Street, Old Reliance Road
US 190 east / SH 21 – Caldwell, Madisonville South end of US 190 concurrency
FM 974 (Tabor Road)
Woodville Road
Bus. SH 6-R (Texas Avenue)
FM 2818
SH OSR (County Line Road) End freeway
Robertson
FM 2549
Hearne US 79 south / US 190 west / FM 391 (Brown Street) – Milano North end of US 190 concurrency, south end of US 79 concurrency
FM 485
US 79 north – Franklin, Buffalo North end of US 79 concurrency
Calvert FM 1644 (Texas Street)
FM 1644 (Hanna Street)
FM 979 (Browning Street)
FM 2159
SH 14
FM 1373
Falls FM 46
FM 1373
Reagan Bus. SH 6
FM 413
Bus. SH 6
Marlin Bus. SH 6-N
SH 7
FM 147 (McClanahan Road) – Groesbeck
Bus. SH 6-N
FM 2307
Perry FM 1240
McLennan Reisel FM 1860
SH 164 – Mart
FM 3222
FM 1860
Waco Loop 340 / Loop 484 South end of Loop 340 concurrency
FM 434
FM 3400 (University Parks Drive)
Robinson US 77 (Robinson Drive) – Waco, Cameron
Waco I-35 – Waco, Austin Begin freeway
FM 3476 (Bagby Avenue)
Beverly Drive
FM 3223 (Imperial Drive)
US 84 (Waco Drive) / Spur 298 (Franklin Avenue) North end of Loop 340 concurrency
Sanger Avenue
Loop 396 (Bosque Boulevard)
Spur 412 (McLauglin Road) End freeway
FM 185
Bosque Valley Mills SH 317 (7th Street)
FM 56 (4th Street)
FM 217
FM 854
FM 2602
Clifton FM 219 (5th Street)
FM 3220
FM 2136
Meridian SH 22 (Morgan Street)
Iredell FM 1238
Hamilton Hico SH 220
US 281 south South end of US 281 concurrency
Erath US 281 north North end of US 281 concurrency
Alexander FM 914
FM 847
Dublin FM 219 South end of FM 219 concurrency
US 67 (Patrick Street) / US 377 / FM 219 North end of FM 219 concurrency
Comanche FM 1496
De Leon SH 16 south (Texas Street) South end of SH 16 concurrency
SH 16 north North end of SH 16 concurrency
Eastland Gorman FM 2921
FM 8 (Kent Street/Fisher Street)
FM 8
Loop 389 (Coal Street)
Carbon Loop 389 (Main Street) / FM 2526
Punkin Center FM 2563
I-20
Eastland SH 112 (Main Street/Seaman Street)
FM 3101 (College Street)
Spur 490
Cisco US 183 south (Conrad Hilton Boulevard) / SH 206 (8th Street) South end of US 183 concurrency
US 183 north (6th Street) North end of US 183 concurrency
FM 1853
Callahan FM 880
Shackelford FM 2921
FM 2408
Moran FM 576 (Post Oak Street)
FM 2312
FM 601
US 180 east / US 283 north (Main Street) South end of US 180 / US 283 concurrency
US 283 south North end of US 283 concurrency
SH 351
US 180 west North end of US 180 concurrency
FM 142
Jones FM 1597
FM 600 South end of FM 600 concurrency
Avoca FM 600 / FM 1636 North end of FM 600 concurrency
FM 704
FM 2702
Stamford FM 142

US 277 Bus. / FM 1226
South end of US 277 Bus. concurrency
Haskell US 277 / SH 283 (Texas Korean War Veterans Memorial Highway) North end of US 277 Bus. concurrency, south end of SH 283 concurrency
SH 283 North end of SH 283 concurrency
FM 1661
FM 1225
Rule US 380 (5th Street)
FM 2407
Rochester FM 617 (Carothers Avenue)
O'Brien FM 2229 (9th Street)
Knox Knox City SH 222 (Main Street)
FM 1292
FM 2534
Benjamin US 82 / SH 114 (Hays Street)
FM 1756 South end of FM 1756 concurrency
FM 1756 (Main Street) North end of FM 1756 concurrency
Foard FM 263
FM 1594
FM 2003
FM 98
Crowell US 70 (Commerce Street)
FM 3103
Hardeman PR 62
FM 2568
Quanah FM 104 (16th Street)
US 287 (11th Street)
Spur 133 (3rd Street)
Spur 133 (Nelson Street)
FM 2533
FM 1166
SH-6

References