Loop 360 is a

loop route In road transportation in the United States, a special route is a road in a numbered highway system that diverts a specific segment of related traffic away from another road. They are featured in many highway systems; most are found in the In ...

Austin Austin refers to: Common meanings * Austin, Texas, United States, a city * Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. Loop 360, also known as the Capital of Texas Highway, is a scenic

highway A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It includes not just major roads, but also other public roads and rights of way. In the United States, it is also used as an equivalent term to controlled-access highway, or ...

winding through the hills of West Austin. The road is described by the

Texas Department of Transportation The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT ) is a Texas state government agency responsible for construction and maintenance of the state's immense Texas state highway system, state highway system and the support of the state's maritime trans ...

(TxDOT) as "a 4-lane depressed median arterial with at-grade signalized intersections". In 2021, the average daily traffic was 58,497 vehicles at the most traveled point, north of RM 2222.

History

Loop 360 was designated on March 29, 1962, on its current route from US 290 to US 183. On September 30, 1969, Loop 360 was extended north to Loop 1. On April 25, 1996, the section from US 183 to Loop 1 was canceled and removed from the state highway system. The south section of Loop 360 from US 290 to RM 2244 was opened on February 11, 1970. The last section of roadway for Loop 360 (excepting the bridge) between RM 2244 and FM 2222 was approved on September 30, 1976. The north and south sections of Loop 360 were connected when the Pennybacker Bridge was opened for traffic on December 3, 1982. On February 19, 1980, the Travis County commissioners voted to designate it the "Capital of Texas Highway". On July 14, 2004, the

Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization The Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (CAMPO) is the federally mandated metropolitan planning organization (MPO) responsible for comprehensive transportation planning in the Austin, Texas, US area, including Williamson, Travis, ...

(CAMPO) changed segments of the future designation to a

toll road A toll road, also known as a turnpike or tollway, is a public or private road for which a fee (or ''Toll (fee), toll'') is assessed for passage. It is a form of road pricing typically implemented to help recoup the costs of road construction and ...

, despite popular outcry. However, toll conversion of the road is unfunded so plans to toll Loop 360 are delayed indefinitely and there remains substantial opposition to any toll conversion of the road from residents and environmentalists. CAMPO has begun to reexamine the toll roll designation. The road should remain tollless for at least the near future. On December 6, 2006, the ''Mobility Alternatives Finance Study'
final report
commissioned by the City of Austin and other central Texas municipalities, noted the poor financial feasibility of toll conversion by stating "Loop 360's toll revenue funds the smallest share of its construction cost (7%)" given a construction cost of $741 million with revenue bonds backed by future tolling of Loop 360 contributing just $51.8 million (in 2006 dollars).

Historical markers

There are three historical markers along Loop 360: *"The Johnson Smokehouse" marker is at the entrance to the Woods of Westlake Heights subdivision, just south of Westbank Drive. The marker commemorates the Johnson Ranch. Charles Johnson, a native of

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, procured the original 124 acre (0.5 km²) ranch on the south side of present-day Loop 360 in 1867. The

smokehouse A smokehouse (North American) or smokery (British) is a building where meat or fish is curing (food preservation), cured with Smoking (cooking), smoke. The finished product might be stored in the building, sometimes for a year or more.Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

. Robert sold the ranch to his son-in-law, Hudson Boatner Marshall (1862–1951) in 1883. A log cabin built on the ranch was the first Eanes school and the surrounding community assumed the Eanes name. *The "Balcones Fault Aids Colonization of Texas" historical marker is north of Bull Creek on the west side of Loop 360. It commemorates the role that the

Balcones Fault The Balcones Fault or Balcones Fault Zone is an area of largely normal faulting Edwards Aquifer in the U.S. state of Texas that runs roughly from the southwest part of the state near Del Rio to the north-central region near Dallas along Inte ...

played in the Anglo-American settlement of Texas.

Route description

The road runs roughly north–south, arcing slightly out to the west. Listing the major intersections going south to north, Loop 360 begins at US 290/ SH 71, then crosses Loop 1 (Mopac Expressway), then crosses RM 2244 (a.k.a. Bee Cave Road), then bridges the

Colorado River The Colorado River () is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The river, the List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem), 5th longest in the United St ...

at the Pennybacker Bridge, then crosses RM 2222, then terminates at

US 183 U.S. Route 183 (US 183) is a north–south United States highway. The highway's northern terminus is in Presho, South Dakota, at an intersection with Interstate 90. Its southern terminus is in Refugio, Texas, at the southern intersectio ...

. The entire length of Loop 360 is . An extension of to connect the northern end of Loop 360 with Loop 1 was once considered part of the Loop, but has since been removed from the state highway system. The segment of Loop 360 south of US 183 is designated a scenic roadway by the City of Austin. The road is popular with cyclists because of the road's hills, wide shoulders for biking, and bike access across the Pennybacker Bridge. Because of the hilly terrain on the east side of the road, with right timing and clear weather, a traveler on loop 360 in early morning can enjoy multiple sunrise scenes; the most spectacular of which can be seen from the Pennybacker Bridge over

Lake Austin Lake Austin, formerly Lake McDonald, is a water reservoir on the Colorado River in Austin, Texas. The reservoir was formed in 1939 by the construction of Tom Miller Dam by the Lower Colorado River Authority. Lake Austin is one of the seven Texa ...

. The road has rock cut-throughs as well as steep fills and has steep roadway grades, 6% to 7% in some areas. The road cuts through environmentally sensitive watersheds. It bridges Barton Creek just south of Loop 1 and runs along the east side of the

Barton Creek Greenbelt The Barton Creek Greenbelt in Austin, Texas is managed by the City of Austin's Park and Recreation Department. The Greenbelt is a stretch of public land spanning from Zilker Park west to the Lost Creek neighborhood. The Barton Creek Greenbel ...

. Northward, it passes to the west of Wild Basin Wilderness Preserve. Just after the Wild Basin entrance, drivers and bikers can pull into a scenic vista and take in a view of downtown Austin including the state capitol building and

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 2 ...

Tower. Further north, Loop 360 crosses the Colorado River and enters the Bull Creek Watershed and crosses Bull Creek. Land use restrictions along Loop 360 help preserve Loop 360's Hill Country aesthetic.

Proposed modifications

In an attempt to alleviate traffic along Loop 360 TxDOT has considered turning the road into a toll road, making it a highway with an overpass or adding Michigan left turns. The latter is favored by TxDOT but opposed by nearby residents.

Junction list

References

{{Austin Streets

360 360 may refer to: * 360 (number) * 360 AD, a year * 360 BC, a year * 360 degrees, a turn Businesses and organizations * 360 Architecture, an American architectural design firm * Ngong Ping 360, a tourism project in Lantau Island, Hong Kong ...

Transportation in Austin, Texas Transportation in Travis County, Texas