Texas State Highway 550

State Highway 550 marker

State Highway 550
Route information
Length: 3.00 mi[1] (4.83 km)
Existed: 2008 – present
Major junctions
Northwest end: I-69E / US 77 / US 83 at Olmito
SH 48 in Eastern Brownsville
Southeast end: Port of Brownsville
Highway system
← SH 495SH 824 →

State Highway 550 (SH 550) is an under construction highway that, when complete, will be a limited access toll route around the northern and eastern edges of Brownsville, Texas, partly replacing and expanding Farm to Market Road 511 (FM 511). It is to provide a new entry point for truck traffic to the Port of Brownsville. It also forms a loop that allows traffic to bypass the northern sections of the urbanized extent of the Brownsville city limits. This may allow the loop to also serve as a relief route for future traffic congestion and as a future business corridor. The first stage of construction was expected to be completed in 2010, with bidding for the final sections currently underway. The first phase of the route opened on March 10, 2011,[2] with tolling for the bridge over FM 1847 beginning on May 11, 2011. Phase two, which created a new limited access highway from FM 3248 to a new entrance to the Port of Brownsville, was opened on June 1, 2013. According to local officials, when the freeway is complete, it will be renumbered Interstate 169 (I-169).

Route description

SH 550 was constructed on the same routing as FM 511 from its connection with I-69E and US 77/US 83 southeastward to FM 3248. Separated travel lanes, intended to be the frontage roads, were the first stage of construction from I-69E and US 77/US 83 to FM 3248. Flyover bridges have been constructed at FM 1847 and at two rail crossings. The second stage of construction built a new divided limited-access highway, which splits from FM 511 at FM 3248 and travels southeast to a new entry point for the Port of Brownsville, and a new crossover bridge at Old Port Isabel Road. The third stage that will complete the mainlanes on the Stage one portion, and construct exit ramps directly to and from I-69E and US 77/US 83 at Olmito, begun in March and will end in approximately 60 days.[3] The route is a toll route, but the second and third stages of the route are being funded with $36 million of funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.[4] According to local authorities in Cameron County, upon full completion, the route will be signed as I-169 as a spur route of I-69E.[5]

Previous routes

SH 550 was previously designated in 1947 as a highway running through the Dallas–Fort Worth region. This highway was transferred to I-20 (now I-30) at the inception of the Interstate Highway System in 1959.

References

  1. ↑ Texas Department of Transportation,
  2. ↑ http://www.cameroncountyrma.org/docs/CCRMANotice03092011.pdf
  3. ↑ "State adding connector routes from Expressway to SH550". Brownsville Herald.
  4. ↑
  5. ↑ Clark, Steve (January 2, 2015). "Big money transportation projects make gains in 2014". The Brownsville Herald. Retrieved March 8, 2015.

External links