Texas State Highway 288

State Highway 288
Route information
Maintained by TxDOT
Length:	61.03 mi[1] (98.22 km)
Existed:	1939 – present
Major junctions
South end:	FM 1495 in Freeport
	Sam Houston Tollway / Beltway 8 I-610 in Houston I-69 / US 59 in Houston
North end:	I-45 in Houston
Location
Counties:	Brazoria, Harris
Highway system
Highways in Texas Interstate US State Toll Loops Spurs FM/RM Park Rec ← SH 287 SH 289 →

State Highway 288 or SH 288, is a north–south highway in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of Texas, between I-45 in downtown Houston and Freeport, where it terminates on FM 1495. The route was originally designated by 1939, replacing the southern portion of SH 19.

Route description

In Harris County, SH 288 is the South Freeway, a divided freeway known for having one of the widest medians of the local road system. It begins as freeway status from its northern terminus at Interstate 69/U.S. Route 59 just south of downtown southward through south Houston. It reaches an intersection with I-610 and continues south through newer subdivisions. It reaches an intersection with State Highway 6, after which it loses its freeway status. From the Harris-Brazoria County Line to Freeport, it is referred to as the Nolan Ryan Expressway, in recognition of Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan who grew up in Alvin, Texas, which is not directly on this road. Brazoria County will be calling the tolled portion of the highway, located within the county, the Brazoria County Expressway^[2]. North of Angleton, the route returns to freeway status passing west of Angleton, near the Texas Gulf Coast Regional Airport, and around the southwestern side of Lake Jackson. It then turns southward toward Freeport. In Freeport, it is known as Brazosport Boulevard. It reaches its southern terminus at State Highway 36 on the southwest side of town.

Toll Lanes

To help alleviate congestion on SH 288, HCTRA and BCTRA will construct toll lanes in the median of the existing freeway in the Greater Houston area. The route will begin at I-69/US 59 and terminate at the intersection of the proposed Grand Parkway (SH 99) for a total length of 26 miles (41.8 km). The entire length of the project will have 4 lanes with interchanges at IH-610, Beltway 8 and at the Grand Parkway. HCTRA will take on the portion located in Harris County, beginning at I-69/US 59 and terminate at the Harris/Brazoria County line at Clear Creek located just North of FM 2234 for a total of 10.3 miles (16.6 km).^[3] BCTRA will construct the portion located in Brazoria County in two phases. Phase 1 will be from the Harris/Brazoria County line, southward to just south of County Road 58 (Croix Rd) for a total of 5 miles (8.0 km)^[4] while phase 2, to be built by TxDot's Toll Operations Division, will continue southward to the Grand Parkway (TX 99) for the remaining 10.7 miles (17.2 km). Design work for the entire project began in the summer of 2015.^[5] Construction on the toll lanes in Harris County began in November 2016^[6] while construction of phase 1 in Brazoria County is scheduled to begin in June 2017.^[4][2] It has not be determined as to how tolls will be collected but you will be able to use any electronic toll tags, accepted in Texas, if you have them while driving on the tolled lanes.^[7]

History

State Highway 288 was designated in 1939 as the renumbering of the portion of State Highway 19 south of downtown Houston. The original routing ran southward along Almeda Road in Houston. The route traveled southward through Fresno, past the Houston Southwest Airport, before reaching Bonney. This entire portion of the route was transferred to Farm to Market Road 521 in 1983.^[8] The route then traveled east through downtown Angleton, continuing southeast before reaching Freeport. This original section is now part of County Road 543 and Farm to Market Road 523. SH 288 was redirected southward from Angleton when the city of Clute became more populated, then continued southward to a new intersection with State Highway 36 west of Freeport. The entire remaining section from FM 521 north of Angleton to Clute was transferred first to Texas State Highway 227 in 1987, and later Business Highway 288 when the bypass around the western side of Lake Jackson opened. The section from Clute south to Freeport remains from the original redirection.

Major intersections

County	Location	mi	km	Destinations	Notes
Brazoria	Freeport			FM 1495 – Surfside Beach, Quintana County Park, Quintana Beach, Bryan Beach, Port Freeport, Brazos Harbor	south end of SH 36 overlap
				SH 36 north – Jones Creek, West Columbia	interchange; north end of SH 36 overlap
				FM 523 north – Surfside
	​			Bus. SH 288 north / SH 332 east – Clute Business District, Angleton, Surfside	interchange; south end of freeway; south end of SH 332 overlap
	Clute			Main Street / Contractor Road / Copper Road
				Dixie Drive
	Lake Jackson			Plantation Drive
				Oak Drive / Veterans Memorial Parkway / This Way / West Way	Access to Brazosport Memorial Hospital
				SH 332 west (Oyster Creek Drive) / Abner Jackson Parkway / This Way	north end of SH 332 overlap
				FM 2004 – Richwood	interchange; north end of freeway
	Angleton			CR 220 – Brazoria Airport	interchange; south end of freeway
				CR 290	southbound exit and northbound entrance
				SH 35 – Angleton, West Columbia, Bay City
				CR 44
				FM 523 – Alvin, Angleton
	​			CR 45	at-grade intersection; north end of freeway
	​			Bus. SH 288 to FM 521 – Rosharon, Angleton	interchange
	​			CR 48	at-grade intersection
	​			CR 51	at-grade intersection
	​			FM 1462 – Rosharon, Alvin	interchange
	​			CR 60 to CR 62 – Iowa Colony	at-grade intersection; The CR 60 intersection is the future TX 99 (Grand Parkway) intersection
	​			CR 61 / CR 62 / CR 63	at-grade intersection
	Iowa Colony			CR 64	at-grade intersection
	​			CR 56	at-grade intersection
	Iowa Colony			CR 57 west	at-grade intersection
				CR 57 east	at-grade intersection
				CR 48 – Iowa Colony	right-in/right-out intersections
	Manvel			SH 6 – Alvin, Sugar Land	interchange
				CR 58	interchange; south end of freeway
	​			CR 101 (Bailey Road)
	Pearland			CR 59 (Southfork Drive)
				FM 518 – Pearland
				FM 2234 (Shadow Creek Parkway) / Mc Hard Road
Harris				Beltway 8 / Sam Houston Tollway
	Houston			Almeda-Genoa Road
				West Orem Drive
				Airport Boulevard
				Reed Road
				Bellfort Avenue
				I-610	I-610 west exit 38A, east exits 38A-C
				Holly Hall Street	southbound exit and northbound entrance
				Alt. US 90 (Old Spanish Trail) / Yellowstone Boulevard / Holcombe Boulevard
				South MacGregor Way / North MacGregor Way - Texas Medical Center
				Binz Street / Calumet Street	southbound exit is via Southmore Boulevard exit
				Southmore Boulevard / Blodgett Street
				I-69 / US 59 – Cleveland, Victoria	no access from SH 288 south to I-69/US 59 north nor I-69/US 59 south to SH 288 north, exit 128B.
				Elgin Avenue / Tuam Avenue	northbound exit and southbound entrance
				Chenevert Street	northbound exit and southbound entrance
				I-45 – Dallas, Galveston, IAH Airport, Hobby Airport	northbound exit and southbound entrance; northern terminus; I-45 exits 46A-B
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

External Links

1. TxDOT - Toll Operations Division

References