Texas State Highway 3

State Highway 3
Route information
Maintained by TxDOT
Length:	30.4 mi[1] (48.9 km)
Existed:	1939[1] – present
Major junctions
South end:	SH 146 in La Marque
	Beltway 8 near Ellington Field
North end:	I-45 in Houston
Highway system
Highways in Texas Interstate US State Toll Loops Spurs FM/RM Park Rec ← SH 2 SH 4 →

State Highway 3, or SH 3, is a state highway in the U.S. state of Texas that runs from Interstate 45 in Houston near William P. Hobby Airport to State Highway 146, 9.9 miles (15.9 km) northwest of Galveston. For most of its length, SH 3 parallels I-45 and runs alongside the former Galveston, Houston and Henderson Railroad lines.

Route description

SH 3 begins in Galveston County, south of La Marque near the Texas City Industrial Complex at a junction with SH 146. The highway heads to the northwest through La Marque intersecting FM 519 and FM 1765 before an interchange with FM 1764 (Emmett F. Lowry Expressway). The highway roughly parallels to the east of I-45 as it heads towards Dickinson. In Dickinson, the highway intersects FM 517 and FM 646 before entering the League City city limits. In League City, SH 3 has junctions with SH 96 and FM 518, and head northwest into Harris County.

The first junction in Harris County is with NASA Road 1, which provides access to the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center. The highway continues to the northwest to an intersection with FM 2351 and passes along the western boundary of Ellington Field. Heading northwest, the highway enters Houston city limits and has a junction with Beltway 8 (Sam Houston Tollway). The highway continues to the northwest through South Houston until it reaches an intersection with Winkler Drive. The highway turns to the west and follows Winkler Drive to its northern terminus at an interchange with I-45.^[2]

History

SH 3 was one of the original twenty six state highways proposed in 1917, overlaid on top of the Southern National Highway. From 1919, the routing mostly followed present day U.S. Highway 90 from Orange to Houston and San Antonio through to Del Rio. The road at this time also had numerous alternate routes simultaneously marked as SH 3, along with occasionally signed SH 3A routes (although most of those routes were given their own numbers by the 1930s).

In 1926, US 90 was routed over SH 3 to Del Rio. Its route was extended along US 90 through Sanderson to Alpine, it then headed northwest to Fort Davis, north to Balmorhea, and then west to a final terminus at San Martine. By 1933, SH 3 was rerouted from Alpine to end in Van Horn. While the routes were marked concurrently, by 1939, SH 3 was truncated to a small route running from Seguin, Luling to Waelder. By 1952, the original route ceased to be, and the present day routing was assigned.

SH 3 is sometimes referred to as Old Galveston Road, indicating its function as a thoroughfare between Houston and Galveston.

Spur routes

Numerous spur routes were created along the main routing of SH 3, especially during the 1920s:

State Highway 3-A was an original state highway proposed in 1917, splitting from the main route at Houston and roughly parallelling it to the north through La Grange and ending at San Marcos. By 1919, the routing had changed slightly, now veering further north from La Grange through Bastrop and ending in Austin. By 1926, this routing had been renumbered as SH 71 west of La Grange and SH 73 (now I-10) east of La Grange. SH 3A was reassigned to an alternate routing of SH 3 that was under construction between San Antonio and Waelder. By 1938, the route was limited to the section between Seguin and Waelder, and in 1939 became the main routing of SH 3 when the original SH 3 was transferred to US 90.

State Highway 3-B was a spur route created by 1922. The route crossed the main route of SH 3 at Schulenberg. The route travelled north through La Grange to Caldwell and south from Schulenberg through Hallettsville to Cuero. There it splits again, travelling both southwest to Kenedy and south to Goliad. By 1926 the route had been reassigned to SH 72 (later US 77).

State Highway 3-C was a proposed spur off of SH 3A, splitting at Fayetteville and travelling northeast through Bellville to Hempstead. By 1926 the route had been renumbered as SH 73A (now SH 159).

State Highway 3-D was a spur that connected the main route and SH 3A between La Grange and Columbus. By 1926 the route was still under construction, but had been transferred to SH 71.

Major intersections

County	Location	mi[2]	km	Destinations	Notes
Galveston	La Marque	0.0	0.0	SH 146	interchange
		1.3	2.1	FM 519 (Main Street)
	La Marque–Texas City line	3.1	5.0	FM 1765
	Texas City	4.7	7.6	FM 1764 (Emmett F. Lowry Expressway) to I-45 – Texas City	interchange
		8.6	13.8	FM 2004 south to I-45 – Hitchcock
	Dickinson	10.7	17.2	FM 517 – Alvin, San Leon
	League City	12.4	20.0	FM 646 to FM 1266
		13.4	21.6	SH 96 (League City Parkway)
		14.8	23.8	FM 518 – Friendswood, Kemah
Harris	Webster			NASA 1 west (NASA Bypass) to I-45	interchange
		17.4	28.0	NASA Parkway - NASA Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, Alvin, Seabrook	former NASA 1
	Houston	21.1	34.0	FM 2351 west (Clear Lake City Boulevard) – Friendswood
		23.0	37.0	FM 1959 west (Dixie Farm Road) to I-45 – Ellington Airport
		23.8	38.3	FM 2553 west (Scarsdale Boulevard) to I-45
		24.4	39.3	Beltway 8 to Sam Houston Tollway	interchange
		30.4	48.9	I-45 (Gulf Freeway) – Galveston, Houston	I-45 exit 38
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

References