Interstate 2 (I-2) is a partially completed

Interstate Highway The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Highway System in the United States. T ...

running through the Lower

Rio Grande Valley The Lower Rio Grande Valley ( es, Valle del Río Grande), commonly known as the Rio Grande Valley or locally as the Valley or RGV, is a region spanning the border of Texas and Mexico located in a floodplain of the Rio Grande near its mouth. ...

South Texas South Texas is a region of the U.S. state of Texas that lies roughly south of—and includes—San Antonio. The southern and western boundary is the Rio Grande, and to the east it is the Gulf of Mexico. The population of this region is about 4.96 ...

. It begins at the intersection of U.S. Highway 83 (US 83) and Business U.S. Highway 83 (Bus. US 83) in Peñitas and heads eastward before terminating at I-69E/ US 77/US 83 in Harlingen. For its entire length, I-2 runs concurrently with US 83. I-2 also parallels

Mexican Federal Highway 2 Federal Highway 2 ( es, Carretera Federal 2, Fed. 2) is a free part of the Mexican federal highway corridors () that runs along the U.S. border. The highway is in two separate improved segments, starting in the west at Tijuana, Baja Califor ...

(Fed. 2), another major east–west route that traces the Mexico-U.S. border along the Mexican side of the

Rio Grande The Rio Grande ( and ), known in Mexico as the Río Bravo del Norte or simply the Río Bravo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The length of the Rio G ...

. When completed, the western terminus will be the city of Laredo. The route is one of the more recently designated Interstate Highways; it was signed as an Interstate in 2013. Its construction is part of an expansion of the Interstate System into southern Texas that includes the three branches of

Interstate 69 in Texas Interstate 69 (I-69) is an Interstate Highway that is in the process of being built in the US state of Texas. It is part of a longer I-69 extension known as the NAFTA superhighway, that, when completed, will connect Canada to Mexico. ...

. It currently intersects I-69E and

I-69C Interstate 69C (I-69C) is a north–south freeway running through South Texas. Once complete, the freeway (with connections to Mexican Federal Highway 97) will begin at I-2/ U.S. Highway 83 (US 83) in Pharr and head northward b ...

, and will, when complete to Laredo, intersect

I-69W Interstate 69W (I-69W) is a relatively short north–south Interstate Highway running through South Texas in the United States. The freeway begins northeast of the middle of World Trade International Bridge in Laredo and ends at I-35. In ...

as well. As of 2022, this complex of Interstate Highways does not yet connect to the rest of the system.

Route description

I-2 begins at an at-grade intersection with US 83 and Bus. US 83 in Peñitas. The Interstate heads eastward as a four-lane freeway through the Lower Rio Grande Valley. The route curves southeastward around

Mission Mission (from Latin ''missio'' "the act of sending out") may refer to: Organised activities Religion *Christian mission, an organized effort to spread Christianity *Mission (LDS Church), an administrative area of The Church of Jesus Christ of ...

and McAllen to the south, running near McAllen International Airport. The route curves northeastward around

Pharr Pharr is a city in Hidalgo County, Texas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 70,400, and in 2019, the estimated population was 79,112. Pharr is connected by bridge to the Mexican city of Reynosa, Tamaulipas. Pharr is ...

, where it intersects with I-69C/ US 281 north of the city center. Continuing eastward, the route passes by many small cities, roughly paralleling Bus. US 83. The route ends at an interchange with I-69E/US 77/US 83 in Harlingen.

History

On April 1, 2013, the Texas Transportation Commission applied to use the I-2 designation on US 83 from Palmview to Harlingen. Approved by the

American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) is a standards setting body which publishes specifications, test protocols, and guidelines that are used in highway design and construction throughout the United ...

at their May meeting, this freeway was already constructed as an Interstate-grade limited-access facility. It connects with I-69E at Harlingen; and likewise with I-69C in the town of Pharr. The

Federal Highway Administration The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is a division of the United States Department of Transportation that specializes in highway transportation. The agency's major activities are grouped into two programs, the Federal-aid Highway Program ...

approved the designation on May 24, 2013, and the

Texas Transportation Commission The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT ) is a government agency in the American state of Texas. Though the public face of the agency is generally associated with the construction and maintenance of the state's immense state highway system ...

followed suit on May 30, 2013. This action finalized the designations of not only I-2, but also of the sections of I-69E from Brownsville to Raymondville, I-69C from Pharr north to the end of the US 281 freeway facility near Edinburg, and also I-369 along a short segment of US 59 freeway west of Texarkana, which will be part of the proposed connector between the main I-69 trunk in Tenaha and Texarkana. These approvals added over to the Interstate Highway System in the Rio Grande Valley. The signage was installed in summer 2013. , the cluster consisting of the recently designated portions of I-2, I-69C, and I-69E in the Rio Grande Valley is not connected to the national Interstate network. This situation is slated to be remedied by scheduled projects to complete I-69E along US 77 between Raymondville and Robstown, and to complete the southern end of the previously signed portion of the I-69 corridor connecting with I-37 west of Corpus Christi.

Environmental Protection Agency A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scale ...

approval for the expansion of the US 77 alignment to Interstate standards, including bypasses of the towns along the routing, was obtained through a Finding of No Significant Impact statement issued on July 13, 2012;

Future

Due to increasing congestion, a 9-mile segment of future Interstate 2 bypassing La Joya is currently under construction in two phases, which is set for completion in May 2023. Both phases of the segment from west of Palmview to east of Sullivan City will cost $183 million according to the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT).

Exit list

The exit numbers are set up to reflect the likely future western terminus of I-2, which would be in Laredo.

References

External links