US 259 highlighted in red | |
Route information | |
Auxiliary route of US 59 | |
Length | 250 mi (400 km) |
Existed | 1963[1]–present |
Major junctions | |
South end |
|
| |
North end | ![]() ![]() |
Location | |
Country | United States |
States | Texas, Oklahoma |
Highway system | |
U.S. Route 259 (US 259, US-259) is a north–south spur of U.S. Route 59 that runs for 250 miles (400 km) through rural areas of northeastern Texas and southeastern Oklahoma. The highway's southern terminus is near Nacogdoches, Texas, at an interchange with its parent route, US 59. Its northern terminus is in the Ouachita Mountains, approximately 15 miles (24 km) south of Heavener, Oklahoma, where it reunites with US 59. For most of its length, US 259 lies 30–50 miles (48–80 km) to the west of its parent route.
Route description
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2f/US_259_runs_north_in_Nacogdoches%2C_TX.jpg/220px-US_259_runs_north_in_Nacogdoches%2C_TX.jpg)
Texas
[edit]US 259 begins at an intersection with its parent, US 59 (future Interstate 69), on the north side of Nacogdoches, Texas. The highway continues due north, passing through Mount Enterprise, and around the eastern side of Henderson and Kilgore. In Kilgore, Texas, US 259 is known as the Charles K. Devall Memorial Highway, as named by the Texas Legislature.[2] It then has a concurrency with Interstate 20 of about 6 miles (9.7 km), then continues north around the eastern edge of Longview along Eastman Rd. The highway continues due north, crossing Interstate 30 in northern Morris County, and crossing into Oklahoma in northwest Bowie County.
Oklahoma
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d5/US_259_northern_terminus.jpg/220px-US_259_northern_terminus.jpg)
After crossing into McCurtain County, Oklahoma, US-259 immediately meets State Highway 87, and continues north through Harris. Maps indicate that US-259 and SH-87 overlap to Idabel, but officially, this is not the case,[3] and ODOT signage does not reflect a concurrency.
US-259 bypasses Idabel to the south and east, concurring with U.S. Highway 70 Bypass. East of Idabel, the bypass route ends, and US-259 begins a concurrency with mainline US-70 and SH-3. The three highways continue north to Broken Bow, where US-70 splits to the east toward DeQueen, Arkansas, and SH-3 splits to the west, bound for Antlers. US-259 continues north alone, taking a winding path through the Ouachita Mountains of southeastern Oklahoma. The route passes Broken Bow Lake on its west side, with State Highway 259A serving as an access loop to the lake and Beavers Bend State Resort. Near the lake, US-259 crosses through the Ouachita National Forest for the first time. Near Smithville, the highway serves as the western terminus of State Highway 4.
North of the SH-4 junction, US-259 crosses into Le Flore County. The U.S. route then serves as the eastern terminus of SH-144 near Octavia. US-259 reenters the national forest north of this junction, and intersects SH-63 at Big Cedar. It then has a junction with SH-1, the Talimena Drive. The highway reunites with US-59 about 10 miles (16 km) south of Heavener, reaching its northern terminus.
History
[edit]In Texas, the highway was designated in 1962 and assumed the entire route of a previous iteration and alignment of State Highway 26, which was then cancelled.[4] (The SH 26 designation has since returned, on another roadway elsewhere in the state.)
Prior to 1985, US 259 between Kilgore and Longview followed the current route of Texas State Highway 31. It entered Longview from the southwest at the intersection of South Street and Spur 63. It then followed Spur 63 to US 80. US 259 then ran concurrently with US 80 to Eastman Road. At the US 80/Eastman Rd. intersection, the previous alignment of US 259 turned left to go north on Eastman. In 1985, US 259 was rerouted to its current route along Interstate 20 to Eastman Road, then left to go north, along the eastern edge of Longview, bypassing the central business district.
Major intersections
[edit]State | County | Location | mi[5] | km | Exit | Destinations | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Texas | Nacogdoches | Redfield | 0.00 | 0.00 | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | Interchange; southern terminus; road continues as Bus. I-69 south/Bus. US 59 south (North Street); U.S. 59 is the future Interstate 69 | ||
| ![]() ![]() | |||||||
| ![]() ![]() | |||||||
| ![]() ![]() | |||||||
| ![]() ![]() | |||||||
Rusk | Mount Enterprise | ![]() | ||||||
![]() ![]() | ||||||||
| ![]() ![]() | |||||||
| ![]() | Interchange | ||||||
| ![]() ![]() | |||||||
Henderson | ![]() ![]() | South end of US 79 overlap | ||||||
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | ||||||||
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | North end of US 79 overlap | |||||||
![]() ![]() | ||||||||
![]() ![]() ![]() | ||||||||
| ![]() ![]() | |||||||
| ![]() ![]() | South end of FM 2276 overlap | ||||||
| ![]() ![]() | North end of FM 2276 overlap | ||||||
Jacobs | ![]() | |||||||
Pitner Junction | ![]() ![]() | |||||||
| ![]() ![]() ![]() | Interchange; northbound exit and southbound entrance | ||||||
| ![]() | Interchange | ||||||
Gregg | | ![]() | Interchange | |||||
Kilgore | ![]() | Interchange | ||||||
![]() ![]() ![]() | Interchange; southbound exit and northbound entrance; south end of SH 31 overlap | |||||||
Kinsloe | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | North end of SH 31 overlap | ||||||
![]() ![]() | South end of I-20 overlap; southbound exit and northbound entrance; I-20 exit 589; southbound entrance via Post Oak Road | |||||||
| 591 | ![]() ![]() | Exit numbers follow I-20 | |||||
Longview | 595 | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | Split into exits 595A (south) and 595B (north) northbound | |||||
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | North end of I-20 overlap; south end of SH 149 overlap; I-20 exit 596 | |||||||
![]() ![]() ![]() | Northern terminus of SH 149; north end of SH 149 overlap | |||||||
![]() | ||||||||
![]() | Interchange | |||||||
| ![]() ![]() | |||||||
| ![]() | |||||||
| ![]() ![]() | |||||||
| ![]() ![]() | |||||||
| ![]() ![]() | |||||||
Upshur | Diana | ![]() ![]() | ||||||
![]() | ||||||||
Old Diana | ![]() | |||||||
Ore City | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | |||||||
| ![]() | Interchange | ||||||
| ![]() ![]() | |||||||
Camp |
No major junctions | |||||||
Morris | Lone Star | ![]() ![]() | ||||||
![]() ![]() | ||||||||
| ![]() ![]() | |||||||
Jenkins | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | |||||||
Daingerfield | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | South end of SH 11 / SH 49 overlap | ||||||
![]() ![]() | North end of SH 11 overlap | |||||||
![]() ![]() | ||||||||
| ![]() ![]() | North end of SH 49 overlap | ||||||
Rocky Branch | ![]() ![]() | |||||||
| ![]() ![]() | |||||||
Omaha | ![]() | |||||||
| ![]() ![]() | |||||||
| ![]() ![]() | |||||||
| ![]() | I-30 exit 178 | ||||||
| ![]() ![]() | |||||||
Bowie | | ![]() ![]() | ||||||
| ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | South end of FM 44 overlap | ||||||
| ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | North end of FM 44 overlap | ||||||
| ![]() ![]() | |||||||
De Kalb | ![]() | Interchange | ||||||
Spring Hill | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | |||||||
Oklahoma | Red River | 151.1 0.00 | 243.2 0.00 | Bridge over the Red River | ||||
McCurtain | | 1.9 | 3.1 | ![]() ![]() | Western terminus of SH-87 | |||
Idabel | 19.6 | 31.5 | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | Southern end of US-70 Byp. concurrency; serves McCurtain County Regional Airport | ||||
22.6 | 36.4 | ![]() ![]() | Southern end of SH-3 concurrency | |||||
24.5 | 39.4 | ![]() ![]() | Eastern terminus of US-70 Byp.; northern end of US-70 Byp. concurrency; southern end of US-70 concurrency | |||||
Broken Bow | 32.3 | 52.0 | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() | Northern end of US-70 / SH-3 concurrency | ||||
38.6 | 62.1 | ![]() ![]() | Clockwise terminus of SH-259A | |||||
40.6 | 65.3 | ![]() | Counterclockwise terminus of SH-259A | |||||
Smithville | 70.7 | 113.8 | ![]() ![]() | Western terminus of SH-4 | ||||
Le Flore | | 75.4 | 121.3 | ![]() ![]() | Eastern terminus of SH-144 | |||
Big Cedar | 89.6 | 144.2 | ![]() | |||||
| 94.6 | 152.2 | ![]() | Interchange via connector road | ||||
| 98.9 | 159.2 | ![]() ![]() | Northern terminus | ||||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
|
Special routes
[edit]Kilgore business route
[edit]Location | Kilgore, Texas |
---|---|
Existed | 2006–present |
US-259 has one Business route in Texas. In 2006, a new bypass was completed around the eastern side of Kilgore. The bypass had been proposed as early as 1965, but funding did not become available until the late 1990s. The new bypass was designated as US-259, while the previous route through the Kilgore business district was designated as a business route. The new business route was approved by the AASHO in September 2006.
Idabel bypass
[edit]Location | Idabel, Oklahoma |
---|---|
Existed | 2000 |
Formerly, US-259 continued into downtown Idabel, and the southeast portion of the Idabel bypass was double-designated as US-70 Bypass and US-259 Bypass. On 6 March 2000, the bypass route was decommissioned, and mainline US-259 was moved onto the bypass.[6] However, as of 2008[update], some bypass signage is still in place, including signage indicating the former terminus of Bypass US-259 at US-70/SH-3.
SH-259A
[edit]SH-259A, an Oklahoma state highway, is a 10-mile (16 km) loop to Broken Bow Lake and Beavers Bend Resort Park north of Broken Bow, Oklahoma. It lies partially in the Ouachita National Forest and is occasionally signed as a U.S. highway.
See also
[edit]Related routes
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Highway Re-Numbered". The Daily Oklahoman. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. February 9, 1963. p. 34. Retrieved December 18, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 1193, § 1, eff. June 15, 2001
- ^ 2008 Control Section Maps (PDF) (Map). Oklahoma Department of Transportation. p. McCurtain 45. Retrieved 2008-06-06.
- ^ Transportation Planning and Programming Division (n.d.). "U.S. Highway No. 259". Highway Designation Files. Texas Department of Transportation. Retrieved June 17, 2015.
- ^ Google (June 26, 2014). "US-259 in Oklahoma" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved June 26, 2014.
- ^ Oklahoma Department of Transportation, Planning & Research Division. "Memorial Dedication & Revision History - US-259". Retrieved 2008-06-09.
External links
[edit]Media related to U.S. Route 259 at Wikimedia Commons
- Endpoints of U.S. Highway 259
Browse numbered routes | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
← ![]() | OK | → ![]() |