Interstate 69 Texas

Interstate 465 Indiana

Overview

Interstate 69 in Texas currently begins along U.S. 59 at Rosenburg in Harris County. Measuring 74.55 miles in length, IH 69 travels northeast alongside U.S. 59 across the Houston metropolitan area to the Montgomery / Liberty County line ahead of Cleveland. An additional eight miles of IH 69 were added along U.S. 59 in Liberty County by the Texas Transportation Commission in September 2025 (Alliance for I-69 Texas, 2025).

Construction upgrading U.S. 59 to Interstate standards in Wharton County started in 2014 when the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) allocated $8.4 million for work including environmental studies, design and upgrades to the El Camp bypass. $169 million in construction on the seven miles stretch along U.S. 59 between SH 60 North in Wharton and the Fort Bend County line commenced in 2023 with completion expected by late 2025 (Wharton County Leader-Journal, 2025).

A $350 million project upgrading 7.5 miles of U.S. 59 along the bypass of Wharton to Interstate standards commenced in early 2024. Construction on the Wharton Relief Route is anticipated for completion in 2030, if not sooner. Further south, $250 million in road work from Wharton to Pierce is scheduled to run from 2027 to 2030. Work includes building an interchange for Wharton Municipal Airport. A $200 million upgrade of U.S. 59 from Pierce to El Campo is scheduled from 2028 to 2032 (Wharton County Leader-Journal, 2025).

Separate road work totaling $740 million will upgrade U.S. 59 from El Campo to the Jackson County line west of Louise. The north project is anticipated to run from 2027 to 2030. The second project will start in 2030 and be finished by 2033. Upgrading the El Campo bypass to six lanes is a future project (Wharton County Leader-Journal, 2025).

$86.9 million in construction upgrading U.S. 59 (South Street) and the connection with the South Loop (SW Stallings Drive) around Nacogdoches got underway in late 2019. Delays due to supply and labor shortages coupled with COVID-19 pushed the completion from 2023 to 2025. Further delays shifted the scheduled completion to December 2026. The project brings the interchange to Interstate standards for the eventual Interstate 69 (Bradford, 2025).

Other construction for I-69 in east Texas beyond Nacogdoches are relief routes being built around Diboll and Corrigan, and frontage roads along U.S. 59 north of Lufkin. The Diboll relief route was opened northbound by Summer 2025 with southbound traffic shifting to the new roadway by the end of 2025. Additionally, the $259 million reconstruction of the junction of U.S. 59/259 is anticipated to break ground in 2029 (Bradford, 2025).

Route Information

  • North End – Cleveland, TX

  • South End – Rosenburg, TX

  • Mileage – 74.55

  • Cities – Rosenburg, Houston, Cleveland

  • Junctions – I-10 IH 45 I-610

Source: Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) Statewide Planning Map

History

Work to upgrade U.S. 59 to Interstate standards started in 2015 between County Road 227 in Wharton County and Spur 10 in Fort Bend County (Begley, 2015a). The next section of freeway beyond Robstown in Texas formally reclassified as IH 69 was the 35 mile long stretch of U.S. 59 from IH 610 north to the Montgomery and Liberty County line. Signs for IH 69 began to appear along that roadway in September 2012. Additional stretches of IH 69 were added to U.S. 59 from near Rosenburg northeast to the west loop of IH 610 near Bellaire at Houston. The 11 mile portion within the beltway was approved as IH 69 by the Texas Transportation Commission on March 26, 2015. Sign installation within Loop 610 started in April 2015 at a cost of about $100,000 (Begley, 2015ab).

North End – US 59 Cleveland, Texas

I-69 US 59 North

IH 69 north ended along US 59 past Fostoria Road

Prior to November 2025, Interstate 69 north ended at the Liberty County line along U.S. 59 north. This was the last shield assembly prior to Interstate standard upgrades made along U.S. 59 north to Cleveland. 08/02/19

US 59 South at I-69

US 59 south at Fostoria Road, where IH 69 south began

U.S. 59 south at the previous exit ramp for Fostoria Road. Located near the Montgomery County line, where IH 69 began until November 2025, this stretch of U.S. 59 was upgraded to Interstate standards by 2023. 08/02/19

South End – US 59 Rosenburg, Texas

I-69 US 59 South

IH 69 south ends along US 59 ahead of Exit 94 to Spur 10

The final IH 69 shield posted during construction upgrading U.S. 59 to Interstate standards west ahead of Spur 10 at Rosenburg. 08/02/19

US 59 North at I-69

US 59 north where IH 69 begins, one mile west of SH 36 at Rosenburg, TX

IH 69 begins along U.S. 59 north along the curve taking the freeway east by SS-529 into Rosenburg. This view shows construction underway to upgrade U.S. 59 to Interstate standards where the entrance ramp for Spur 10 joins IH 69 northbound. 08/02/19

References

Alliance for I-69 Texas. (2025, October 8). I-69 Alliance update. Retrieved from https://www.i69texasalliance.com/ResourcesPDFs/Oct 2025 I-69 Alliance Update.pdf

I-69, changes coming to county. (2025, January 8). Wharton County Leader-Journal.

Bradford, N. (2025, June 18). U.S. 59 project completion delayed until December 2026. The Daily Sentinel. https://www.dailysentinel.com/news/local/u-s-59-project-completion-delayed-until-december-2026/article_cba53246-f736-5de7-a14e-d2b2a4935704.html

Begley, D. (2015, March 27). ‘New’ Interstate 69 may look familiar – Well, it should be because it’s also part of U.S. 59. Houston Chronicle.

Begley, D. (2015, March 28). Signs, signs, everywhere 59 and 69 signs. Houston Chronicle: Blogs.

Page updated November 12, 2025.