Texas State Highway 16

State Highway 16
Route information
Maintained by TxDOT
Length: 541.8 mi[1] (871.9 km)
Existed: before 1939 – present
Major junctions
North end: US 281 S of Wichita Falls
 
US 380
US 180
I-20
US 67/US 377
US 84/US 183
US 190
US 87/US 290
I-10
I-410
US 90
I-35
US 59
South end: US 83 in Zapata
Highway system

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

SH 15 SH 17
SH 345 SH 346 SH 347

State Highway 16, or SH 16, is a north–south state highway that runs from U.S. Highway 281 24 miles (38.6 km) south of Wichita Falls to Zapata on the Texas-Mexico boundary. It is the longest state highway in Texas at almost 542 miles, but is only the 9th longest highway overall in the state[2].

Contents

Route description

SH 16 begins at an intersection with US 281 between Windthorst and Antelope in North Texas, and begins it journey to the south. It reaches an intersection with US 380 in the town of Graham. It continues to the southeast, wrapping around the northern and eastern sides of Possum Kingdom Lake. Its next intersection is with I-20 south of the town of Strawn. It continues south through farm and ranchland in Central Texas, passing through the cities of Comanche and Llano. The route veers to the southeast as it reaches the Texas Hill Country, passing through Fredericksburg, Kerrville, and Bandera. The routes enters San Antonio from the northwest, and goes around the west side of the city concurrent with Interstate 410. The route continues to the south through south Texas ranchlands, finally reaching its final terminus at US 83 in Zapata, almost 542 miles from its starting point.

Previous routes

SH 16 was one of the original twenty six state highways proposed in 1917, overlayed on top of the Fort Worth-Oklahoma Highway. From 1917 the routing mostly followed present day Interstate 35W from Fort Worth to Denton. It continued on, routed along present day Interstate 35 from Fort Worth through to Oklahoma. By 1919, the route was cancelled. It was then reassigned to the future route of U.S. Highway 181 (which was routed over it in 1926) from San Antonio to Corpus. It was reassigned by 1933 to a new section between Santa Anna and Brady over previous SH 4 and was rerouted over SH 51 from Crowell to Sagerton, and was being extended northward to the Oklahoma State line via Quanah. By 1936, SH 16 was extended north over part of SH 81 to Kerrville. By 1939, the section from Brady to Santa Anna was promptly reassigned to U.S. Highway 183. SH 16 extended north to north of Graham, terminating near Buena Vista south of San Antonio, replacing SH 81. In 1965 the road was significantly extended via its current routing to Zapata, replacing State Highway 346 from San Antonio to Jourdanton, and was rerouted over Interstate 410 in San Antonio.

Junction list

County Location Junction Notes
Zapata Zapata US 83 / FM 496 south – Laredo, Roma, Falcon Lake
Jim Hogg FM 649 north – Mirando City South end of FM 649 overlap
FM 649 south – Guerra North end of FM 649 overlap
FM 3073 west
Hebbronville SH 285 east – Falfurrias
SH 359 east – Realitos South end of SH 359 overlap
SH 359 west – Bruni, Laredo North end of SH 359 overlap
Duval SH 339 south – Benavides
Freer US 59 / SH 44 – Laredo, Encinal, George West, San Diego
FM 2359 east
McMullen FM 624 – Orange Grove, Cotulla
Tilden SH 72 east – Three Rivers South end of SH 72 overlap
SH 72 west – Fowlerton North end of SH 72 overlap
Atascosa FM 140 – Pearsall, Christine
Jourdanton SH 97 – Charlotte, Pleasanton
Spur 162 west
SH 173 north – Devine
FM 3350 east – Pleasanton
Poteet Loop 282 north – Poteet
Loop 282 south / FM 476 east – Poteet South end of FM 476 overlap
FM 476 west North end of FM 476 overlap
Bexar Loop 1604 (Rockport Road) Interchange
Spur 66 east (Lone Star Pass)
San Antonio I-410 east (Connally Loop) / Spur 422 north (Poteet-Jourdanton Freeway) South end of I-410 overlap
Exit 51; FM 2790 (Somerset Road)
Exit 53; I-35 (Pan Am Expressway) – Laredo, San Antonio
Exit 1; Frontage Road
Exit 3A; Ray Ellison Drive Signed as exit 3 northbound
Exit 3B; Medina Base Road Northbound exit is via exit 3
Exit 4; Valley Hi Drive – Lackland AFB
Exit 6; US 90 (Cleto Rodriguez Freeway) – San Antonio, Del Rio
Exit 7; Marbach Road
Exit 8; Lakeside Parkway Southbound exit and entrance
Exit 9A; SH 151 (Stotzer Freeway) – SeaWorld Signed as exit 9 northbound
Exit 9B; Military Drive Southbound exit and northbound entrance
Exit 10; FM 3487 (Culebra Road)
Exit 11; Ingram Road
Exit 12; Exchange Parkway
I-410 north (Connally Loop) / Spur 421 (Bandera Road) Interchange; north end of I-410 overlap
Leon Valley Wurzbach Parkway
FM 471 south (Grissom Road)
San Antonio FM 1517 north (Eckheart Road)
Loop 1604 (Anderson Loop)
Helotes FM 1560 north (Hauseman Road) / Leslie Road South end of FM 1560 overlap
FM 1560 south (Galm Road) / Circle A Trail North end of FM 1560 overlap
Scenic Loop Road – Grey Forest
SH 211 south (Texas Research Parkway)
Medina PR 37 west – Medina Lake
Bandera Pipe Creek FM 1283 south – Medina Lake
Bandera SH 173 south (Main Street) – Hondo South end of SH 173 overlap
SH 173 north (Sycamore Street) – Kerrville North end of SH 173 overlap
FM 470 west (Texas Hill Country Trail Road) – Tarpley, Utopia
RM 2828 east
Medina RM 337 west (South Prong Road) – Vanderpool
FM 2107 north (North Prong Road)
Kerr FM 1273 north (Upper Turtle Creek Road)
FM 2771 east (Lower Turtle Creek Road)
Kerrville SH 173 south – Bandera
Spur 98 west (Thompson Drive)
Bridge over Guadalupe River
SH 27 – Junction, Center Point, Comfort
FM 1341 north
Loop 534 (Veterans Highway)
I-10 – Junction, San Antonio
Gillespie Fredericksburg FM 2093 west
US 87 north / US 290 west – Mason, Junction South end of US 87/ 290 overlap
US 87 south / US 290 east – Comfort, Austin North end of US 87/ 290 overlap
RM 1323 east
Llano RM 965 south – Enchanted Rock
RM 2323 south
Llano SH 71 east – Marble Falls, Austin South end of SH 71 overlap
FM 152 west
SH 29 / SH 71 west – Mason, Spring Valley, Burnet North end of SH 71 overlap
San Saba Cherokee RM 501 – Bend, Pontotoc
San Saba US 190 – Richland Springs, Lampasas
FM 500 north
Mills Goldthwaite US 183 south – Lampasas South end of US 183 overlap
Loop 15 east (4th Street)
FM 574 west
US 84 east – Gatesville South end of US 84 overlap
US 84 west / US 183 north – Brownwood North end of US 84/183 overlap
FM 3484 west – Mullin
FM 218 west – Zephyr South end of FM 218 overlap
Priddy FM 218 east – Hamilton North end of FM 218
Comanche FM 1476 north
Comanche FM 590 south – Zephyr
US 67 / US 377 / SH 36 – Brownwood, Dublin, Rising Star
FM 3381 south
FM 2861 east
FM 2318 west
De Leon FM 587 west – Rising Star
SH 6 south – Dublin South end of SH 6
SH 6 north – Eastland North end of SH 6 overlap
FM 2921 north
Eastland Desdemona FM 8 – Gorman, Stephenville
I-20 – Abilene, Fort Worth
Palo Pinto Strawn SH 108 south – Stephenville
FM 207 west
US 180 east – Palo Pinto South end of US 180 overlap
US 180 west – Breckenridge North end of US 180 overlap
FM 2353 north – Possum Kingdom Lake
PR 36 west – Possum Kingdom Lake, Camp Constatin BSA, Camp Grady Spruce
SH 254 east – Graford
FM 2353 south – Possum Kingdom Lake
Loop 533 west
SH 337 south – Graford, Mineral Wells
Loop 533 east
Young FM 1191 north – Bryson
FM 1287 south
Graham US 380 east / SH 67 south – Jacksboro, Breckenridge South end of US 380 overlap
US 380 west – Throckmorton North end of US 380 overlap
FM 2652 north (Red Top Road)
FM 2075 east
Loving SH 114 – Olney, Jacksboro
Markley FM 1769 west – Olney
Archer US 281 – Wichita Falls, Jacksboro

References