Texas State Highway 9

State Highway 9
Route information
Maintained by TxDOT
Length:	3.2 mi[1] (5.1 km)
Existed:	2008 – present
Major junctions
South end:	FM 116 in Copperas Cove
North end:	US 190 in Copperas Cove
Highway system
Highways in Texas Interstate US State Toll Loops Spurs Park Rec FM ← SH 8 I-10 →

State Highway 9 or SH 9 is a highway in Texas. It connects from US 190 outside of Copperas Cove, Texas to FM 116 on the North side of Copperas Cove, Texas. The highway opened on February 20, 2014 with a ribbon cutting at 2:00 PM.

History

State Highway 9 or SH 9 was one of the original 26 Texas highways proposed in 1917, overlaid on top of the Puget Sound-Gulf Highway. In 1919 the routing follows the present day U.S. Highway 87 from Amarillo, through Canyon, Plainview, Lubbock, Big Spring, San Angelo, Brady, Mason, Fredericksburg, into San Antonio. From San Antonio, it follows U.S. Highway 181 from San Antonio, to Sinton and terminated in Corpus Christi.

In 1919 the direct segment between San Angelo and Brady had not yet been built, so SH 9 was rerouted through Paint Rock for a short time (The segment would be completed by 1922). Much like other highways at the time, multiple alternate routings has been created using the same number, and SH 9 was no exception. From San Antonio, the second route left the city south via Pleasanton Road, merging with present day U.S. Route 281 from Las Gallinas through Pleasanton splitting off onto present day Interstate 37 into Oakville. It continued west on SH 234 into Odem, and south on U.S. Route 77 back to I-37 to its terminus in Corpus Christi.

By 1922 a third routing, signed as SH 9A was created alongside the previous two, overrunning the ambitious SH 12 route from Skidmore to Alice, and continuing south to its terminus in Pharr.

In 1926, U.S. Route 385 (now US 87) was overlaid on the original routing from Amarillo to San Antonio. From there, the original routing was resigned as SH 16 and had U.S. Route 181 overlaid on top of that. The second routing retained the SH 9 designation, continuing the numbering into Corpus Christi that way. The third routing was given its SH 12 assignment back from Skidmore to Alice, given a new assignment of SH 12 from Alice to Pharr, and both segments were overlaid with US 96 (later SH 359 and US 281). By 1933, an extension to SH 9 was being built from Amarillo to Stratford into Oklahoma, replacing SH 115. This would eventually be overlaid with U.S. Route 287.

By 1939 most of SH 9 was cancelled, leaving only the Three Rivers-Corpus Christi segment to the old highway. With the completion of I-37 in 1971, SH 9 was cancelled.

References