U.S. Route 281 (US 281) is a

United States Numbered Highway The United States Numbered Highway System (often called U.S. Routes or U.S. Highways) is an integrated network of roads and highways numbered within a nationwide grid in the contiguous United States. As the designation and numbering of these hi ...

that runs from the

Mexican border Mexico shares international borders with three nations: *To the north the United States–Mexico border, which extends for a length of through the states of Baja California, Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León and Tamaulipas. *To the south ...

in the

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. The ...

to the

Canadian border Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

near

Dunseith, North Dakota Dunseith ( ) is a city in Rolette County, North Dakota, Rolette County, North Dakota, United States. The population was 632 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Dunseith is best known for its proximity to the International Peace Garden. ...

. In the state of

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, the highway is a major south–north corridor, connecting Brownsville to the

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

state line at the Red River in

Burkburnett Burkburnett is a city in Wichita County, Texas, United States. It is part of the Wichita Falls, Texas metropolitan statistical area. Its population was 10,811 at the 2010 census. The community newspaper, the ''Burkburnett Informer/Star,'' is publi ...

. Several segments of U.S. 281 are concurrent with Interstate routes, including

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 ...

in the

, I-37 in

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= U.S. state, State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , s ...

, and

I-44 Interstate 44 (I-44) is a major Interstate Highway in the central United States. Although it is nominally an east–west road as it is even-numbered, it follows a more southwest–northeast alignment. Its western terminus is in Wichita Fa ...

north of

Wichita Falls Wichita Falls ( ) is a city in and the seat of government of Wichita County, Texas, United States. It is the principal city of the Wichita Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Archer, Clay, and Wichita counties. Accordin ...

Route description

US 281 has two signed segments near its southern terminus in the

, both of which are signed west–east. The eastern segment, considered mainline US 281 by

TxDOT The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT ) is a government agency in the United States, 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 ...

, begins in Brownsville at an intersection with Business

US 77 U.S. Route 77 (US 77) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway which extends for in the central United States. As of 2005, Its southern terminus is in Brownsville, Texas, at Veteran's International Bridge on the Mexican border, whe ...

and SH 48 about from the Mexico border, and travels west through several communities along the border to Pharr. The western segment, officially listed as a spur connection by TxDOT and often labeled on maps as US 281 Spur, begins just north of the

McAllen–Hidalgo–Reynosa International Bridge The McAllen–Hidalgo–Reynosa International Bridge is a road bridge completed in 1926, crossing the Rio Grande between the state of Tamaulipas in northeastern Mexico and the state of Texas in the southwestern United States. Route The Hidalgo T ...

Hidalgo Hidalgo may refer to: People * Hidalgo (nobility), members of the Spanish nobility * Hidalgo (surname) Places Mexico * Hidalgo (state), in central Mexico * Hidalgo, Coahuila, a town in the north Mexican state of Coahuila * Hidalgo, Nuevo Le� ...

and travels north along International Boulevard before turning east onto Coma Avenue and entering Pharr. The two segments (along with Spur 600, which provides access to the

Pharr–Reynosa International Bridge The Pharr–Reynosa International Bridge ( es, Puente Internacional Reynosa–Pharr) is an international bridge across the Rio Grande, along the U.S.–Mexico border. It connects the city of Pharr in the U.S. state of Texas with the city of Rey ...

) meet at Cage Boulevard, where signage changes to south–north, and the highway turns to the north. North of the interchange with I-2, US 281 is concurrent with

to that route's northern terminus () in Edinburg. US 281 travels through small towns and sparsely-populated areas, alternating between a divided highway and a main street and passing through a Border Patrol checkpoint south of

Falfurrias Falfurrias ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Brooks County, Texas. Its population was 4,981 at the 2010 census, in a county that in the same census was just over 7,000. The town is named for founder Edward Cunningham Lasater's ranch, La Mot ...

, until joining I-37 north of Three Rivers. The two routes split south of Pleasanton and separately travel northward to

. In San Antonio, US 281 overlaps

I-410 Interstate 410 (abbreviated I-410, and colloquially called Loop 410) is a loop route of I-10 around San Antonio, Texas. It is identified as Connally Loop in honor of former Texas Governor John Connally. Route description I-410 ci ...

on the south side of the city until another interchange with I-37. US 281 and I-37 then overlap north into

Downtown San Antonio Downtown San Antonio is the central business district of San Antonio, Texas, United States. It also serves as the urban core of Greater San Antonio, a metropolitan area with nearly 2.5 million people. In addition to being encircled by Loops 1604 ...

until I-37 ends at

I-35 Interstate 35 (I-35) is a major Interstate Highway in the central United States. As with most primary Interstates that end in a five, it is a major cross-country, north–south route. It stretches from Laredo, Texas, near the Mexican border ...

. US 281 continues north from Downtown San Antonio as the McAllister Freeway, intersecting I-410 again at a stack interchange in Uptown San Antonio, with access to the

San Antonio International Airport San Antonio International Airport is an international airport in San Antonio, Texas. It is in Uptown Central San Antonio, about north of Downtown. It has three runways and covers . Its elevation is above sea level. SAT averages 260 daily dep ...

. The freeway ends at

Loop 1604 Loop 1604 is the outer highway loop encircling San Antonio, Texas, spanning approximately . Originally constructed as a two-lane highway, the northern segment of the route, from US 90 in western San Antonio to Kitty Hawk Road in northeaster ...

, and US 281 continues through Bexar County as a

superstreet A superstreet, also known as a restricted crossing U-turn (RCUT), J-turn, or reduced conflict intersection (RCI), is a type of road intersection that is a variation of the Michigan left. In this configuration, in contrast to the Michigan left, t ...

. In

Central Texas Central Texas is a region in the U.S. state of Texas surrounding Austin and roughly bordered by San Saba to Bryan and San Marcos to Hillsboro. Central Texas overlaps with and includes part of the Texas Hill Country and corresponds to a ph ...

, it serves as the main street of

Blanco Blanco (''white'' or ''blank'' in Spanish) or Los Blancos may refer to: People *Blanco (surname) Fictional characters *Blanco, a hobbit in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth * Blanco Webb, character in the BBC sitcom ''Porridge'' * El Blanco, albin ...

before beginning a concurrency with

US 290 U.S. Route 290 (US 290) is an east–west U.S. Highway located entirely within the state of Texas. Its western terminus is at Interstate 10 southeast of Segovia, and its eastern terminus is at Interstate 610 in northwest Houston. It is the ...

south of Johnson City. As US 290 continues toward Austin, US 281 and US 290 provide a scenic and less congested alternative to I-35 between San Antonio and Austin. The two routes split in the city, with US 281 continuing toward Marble Falls, Burnet, and

Lampasas Lampasas ( ) is a city in Lampasas County, Texas, United States. Its population was 7,291 at the 2020 census. It is the seat of Lampasas County. Lampasas is part of the Killeen–Temple–Fort Hood metropolitan statistical area. History ...

. North of Stephenville, US 281 crosses

I-20 Interstate 20 (I‑20) is a major east–west Interstate Highway in the Southern United States. I-20 runs beginning at an interchange with I-10 in Scroggins Draw, Texas, and ending at an interchange with I-95 in Florence, South Carolina. Between ...

and continues through North Central Texas, passing through Mineral Wells and Jacksboro. Upon reaching

, US 281 becomes a freeway. It begins a concurrency with

at that route's western terminus, and the two routes travel north, crossing the Red River into

near

History

A project to construct a stack interchange at I-410 (the "San Antonio Web") was completed June 9, 2008; formerly there was no direct access between the two freeways and surface streets were required to travel between the freeways. The reason for this initial lack of direct interchange was due to litigation filed in the late 1960s against the Texas Highway Department over the highway's original construction alignment through portions of Brackenridge Park and Olmos Park that were alleged to be in violation of several Federal laws, ultimately including NEPA. As a result of the Supreme Court decision in a more advanced and very similar case involving the proposed construction of I-40 through Overton Park in Memphis, Tennessee which upheld and affirmed the plaintiffs in that circumstance and precluded that highway's construction through the parkland with Federal funding, the Texas Highway Department chose instead to construct the McAlister Freeway entirely with State funding using a modified design that would increase curvature but limit encroachment into and noise impact on the Sunken Gardens area within Brackenridge Park. Funding of various highway projects from around Texas was re-allocated to the McAlister Freeway project, which was initially completed with only the indirect interchange via existing surface streets to Loop 410 since it required no Federal funding or approval and the Loop 410 overpass of that location where the McAlister Freeway main lanes would pass beneath had already been completed many years earlier. In 2010, US 281 from Loop 1604 to Bulverde Road in north San Antonio was re-constructed as a superstreet. Groundbreaking was held on March 11, 2010 with construction finishing later that year in September. The highway was expanded from a two-lane highway to a four-lane divided highway from River Crossing to the

Comal COMAL (''Common Algorithmic Language'') is a computer programming language developed in Denmark by Børge R. Christensen and Benedict Løfstedt and originally released in 1975. COMAL was one of the few structured programming languages that was a ...

county line at a cost of $30.5 million.

Future

The section of US 281 from I-2/

US 83 U.S. Route 83 (US 83) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway that extends in the central United States. Only four other north–south routes are longer: US 1, US 41, US 59, and US 87, while US ...

in Pharr to George West is steadily being upgraded to an interstate-grade freeway as part of the

Interstate 69 Interstate 69 (I-69) is an Interstate Highway in the United States currently consisting of 10 unconnected segments with an original continuous segment from Indianapolis, Indiana, northeast to the Canadian border in Port Huron, Michigan, at ...

expansion, and will be signed as

Interstate 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 ...

. The bypass for Premont is under construction scheduled for completion in 2024. The section of US 281 from Loop 1604 to the Bexar–Comal county line currently experiences heavy congestion during peak hours, being the most congested highway in Bexar County. TxDOT is upgrading this section of highway from a superstreet to a limited–access freeway, with construction beginning in 2017 and concluding in 2022. Section 1, from Loop 1604 to Stone Oak Parkway, is planned to be constructed from 2017 to 2020. Section 2, from Stone Oak Parkway to Borgfeld Drive, is planned to be constructed from 2019 to 2022. The project will cost $532 million. Ground breaking for the project was held on March 31, 2017 with construction officially beginning on July 17.

Major intersections

U.S. Route 281 Spur

Notes

References

External links