Editing Interstate 27 (section)

==History==
[[File:Interstate 27 Tulia.JPG|thumb|right|I-27 in Tulia]]
The roadway between Lubbock and Amarillo was part of the Puget Sound to Gulf Highway ([[Texas State Highway 9 (1917–1971)|SH&nbsp;9]]), one of the original state highways defined in 1917.<ref>{{cite news |work = [[Commerce Journal]] |title = Highway Commission Adopts 25 Highways |date = July 6, 1917 }}{{full citation needed|date=November 2017}}</ref> In 1926, it became part of [[U.S. Route 385 (1926)|US&nbsp;385]],<ref name="1926 map">{{cite map |author1 = [[Bureau of Public Roads]] |author2 = [[American Association of State Highway Officials]] |date = November 11, 1926 |title = United States System of Highways Adopted for Uniform Marking by the American Association of State Highway Officials |url = https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:United_States_System_of_Highways_Adopted_for_Uniform_Marking_by_the_American_Association_of_State_Highway_Officials.jpg |scale = 1:7,000,000 |location = Washington, DC |publisher = [[United States Geological Survey]] |oclc = 32889555 |access-date = November 7, 2013 |via = [[Wikimedia Commons]] |name-list-style = amp |archive-date = April 13, 2017 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170413153913/https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:United_States_System_of_Highways_Adopted_for_Uniform_Marking_by_the_American_Association_of_State_Highway_Officials.jpg |url-status = live }}</ref> which was absorbed into [[U.S. Route 87 in Texas|US&nbsp;87]] in 1935.<ref>{{TxDOT|US|87|link=no}}</ref> The SH&nbsp;9 [[Concurrency (road)|overlap]] was dropped in the 1939&nbsp;renumbering.<ref>{{cite map |author = [[H.M. Gousha Company]] |url = http://www.lonestarroads.com/maps/1938-conoco.html |title = Official Road Map: Texas |publisher = [[Conoco]] |year = 1938 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140409051411/http://www.lonestarroads.com/maps/1938-conoco.html |archive-date = April 9, 2014 }}{{full citation needed|date=November 2017}}</ref><ref>{{TxDOT|SH|9|link=no}}</ref> [[Road surface|Paving]] began in 1929 near [[Plainview, Texas|Plainview]] and was almost complete by 1940,<ref name=FHWA/> with only about {{Convert|8|mi|km|spell=in}} south of [[Canyon, Texas|Canyon]] still [[bituminous surfaced]] until later that decade.<ref name="1940 maps">[[Texas State Highway Department]], General Highway Maps: [http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/cgi-bin/aris/maps/maplookup.php3?mapnum=4936 Lubbock]{{Dead link|date=July 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, [http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/cgi-bin/aris/maps/maplookup.php3?mapnum=4877 Hale]{{Dead link|date=July 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, [http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/cgi-bin/aris/maps/maplookup.php3?mapnum=4999 Swisher]{{Dead link|date=July 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, [http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/cgi-bin/aris/maps/maplookup.php3?mapnum=4975 Randall]{{Dead link|date=July 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, and [http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/cgi-bin/aris/maps/maplookup.php3?mapnum=4971 Potter] Counties, partially revised to February 1, 1940 {{dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}{{full citation needed|date=November 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite map |author = [[Rand McNally & Company]] |url = http://www.lonestarroads.com/maps/1946-sinclair.html |title = Texas–Oklahoma–Eastern New Mexico |publisher = [[Sinclair (oil)|Sinclair]] |year = 1946 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140409014221/http://www.lonestarroads.com/maps/1946-sinclair.html |archive-date = April 9, 2014 }}{{full citation needed|date=November 2017}}</ref> The Canyon Expressway, a [[freeway]] upgrade of US&nbsp;87 (also [[U.S. Route 60 in Texas|US&nbsp;60]] there) between Canyon and Amarillo, was built in the late 1950s and early 1960s.<ref name=FHWA>{{cite web |author = Jack Faucett Associates |publisher = [[Federal Highway Administration]] |url = http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/Planning/econdev/i27tx.htm |title = Economic Development History of Interstate 27 in Texas |access-date =  |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060507065632/http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/planning/econdev/i27tx.htm |archive-date = May 7, 2006 |url-status = dead }}</ref> This highway, with a [[design speed]] of {{Convert|45|mph|km/h|abbr=on}}, included [[frontage road]]s along its entire length and ended in each city with a Y interchange:<ref name="1961 maps"/> the split of US&nbsp;60 and US&nbsp;87 in Canyon, and a split between the two [[one-way pair|oneway pair]]s of Taylor and Fillmore streets and Pierce and Buchanan streets in Amarillo. The Dumas Expressway, a freeway upgrade of US&nbsp;87 north from Amarillo, opened several years later, feeding into the same one-way pairs.<ref name=NBI/>

Four-laning of US&nbsp;87 from Canyon to Lubbock was completed in the late 1960s, with the last section to be widened lying between [[Abernathy, Texas|Abernathy]] and Lubbock. While this was built as a surface [[divided highway]] south of Canyon,<ref>{{cite map |author = [[General Drafting Company]] |url = http://www.lonestarroads.com/maps/1961-enco.html |title = Texas |publisher = [[Enco (oil company)|Enco]] |year = 1961 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140409072552/http://www.lonestarroads.com/maps/1961-enco.html |archive-date = April 9, 2014 }}{{full citation needed|date=November 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite map |author = [[H.M. Gousha Company]] |url = http://www.lonestarroads.com/maps/1967-texaco.html |title = Texas |publisher = [[Texaco]] |year = 1967 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140409070554/http://www.lonestarroads.com/maps/1967-texaco.html |archive-date = April 9, 2014 }}{{full citation needed|date=November 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite map |author = [[H.M. Gousha Company]] |url = http://www.texasfreeway.com/statewide/historic/road_maps/statewide_road_maps.shtml |title = Texas |publisher = [[Texaco]] |year = 1969 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070814052510/http://www.texasfreeway.com/statewide/historic/road_maps/statewide_road_maps.shtml |archive-date = August 14, 2007 }}{{full citation needed|date=November 2017}}</ref> short sections of freeway were built through [[New Deal, Texas|New Deal]], Abernathy, and [[Hale Center, Texas|Hale Center]], and [[interchange (road)|interchange]]s were built at [[U.S. Route 70 in Texas|US&nbsp;70]] and [[Texas State Highway 194|SH&nbsp;194]] on the new bypass of Plainview and at [[Texas State Highway 86|SH&nbsp;86]] (toward the west) south of [[Tulia, Texas|Tulia]].<ref>{{cite map |author = United States Geological Survey |author-link = United States Geological Survey |url = http://msrmaps.com/image.aspx?T=2&S=14&Z=14&X=77&Y=1182&W=3&qs=%7cplainview%7ctx%7c |series = 15 minute |title = Plainview, Texas Quadrangle |date = July 1, 1983 |location = Reston, VA |publisher = United States Geological Survey |via = MSR Maps |access-date = October 21, 2011 |archive-date = July 15, 2022 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220715184752/https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/?from=https%3A%2F%2Fresearch.microsoft.com%2F%3FT%3D2%26S%3D14%26Z%3D14%26X%3D77%26Y%3D1182%26W%3D3%26qs%3D%257Cplainview%257Ctx%257C |url-status = live }} (before the bypass was upgraded to freeway standards){{full citation needed|date=November 2017}}{{full citation needed|date=November 2017}}</ref><ref name="1961 maps">[[Texas State Highway Department]], General Highway Maps: [http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/cgi-bin/aris/maps/maplookup.php3?mapnum=5223 Lubbock]{{Dead link|date=July 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, [http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/cgi-bin/aris/maps/maplookup.php3?mapnum=5154 Hale]{{Dead link|date=July 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, [http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/cgi-bin/aris/maps/maplookup.php3?mapnum=5299 Swisher]{{Dead link|date=July 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, [http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/cgi-bin/aris/maps/maplookup.php3?mapnum=5272 Randall]{{Dead link|date=July 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, and [http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/cgi-bin/aris/maps/maplookup.php3?mapnum=5268 Potter]{{Dead link|date=July 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Counties, and [http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/cgi-bin/aris/maps/maplookup.php3?mapnum=5269 Amarillo and vicinity], state highways revised to January 1, 1961 {{dead link|date=August 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}{{full citation needed|date=November 2017}}</ref><ref name=NBI>[[Federal Highway Administration]], [[National Bridge Inventory]], 2006{{full citation needed|date=November 2017}}</ref> The original two-lane road, where bypassed, became [[Texas State Highway Loop 461|Loop&nbsp;461]] (in New Deal in 1968; marked as Bus. US&nbsp;87-G),<ref name=HDF-SL-461>{{TxDOT|SL|461|link=no}}</ref> [[Texas State Highway Loop 369|Loop&nbsp;369]] (in Abernathy in 1962),<ref name=HDF-SL-369>{{TxDOT|SL|369|link=no}}</ref> a local street (in Hale Center), and [[Texas State Highway Loop 445|Loop&nbsp;445]] (in Plainview in 1967; marked as Bus. US 87-G).<ref name=HDF-SL-445>{{TxDOT|SL|445|link=no}}</ref>

I-27 was not part of the original [[Interstate Highway System]] chosen in the 1950s; the spur from I-40 to Lubbock was authorized with the [[Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1968]], which added {{Convert|1500|mi|km}} to the system.<ref>{{cite web |author = Federal Highway Administration |url = https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/byday/fhbd1213.htm |title = FHWA By Day: December 13 |publisher = Federal Highway Administration |access-date =  |archive-date = October 5, 2006 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20061005113342/https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/byday/fhbd1213.htm |url-status = live }}</ref> [[George H. Mahon]], member of the [[US House of Representatives]] from 1935 to 1979 and chair of the [[House Committee on Appropriations]] after 1964, helped secure funding for the road. Texas officially designated the highway in early 1969, originally running from [[U.S. Route 62 in Texas|US&nbsp;62]] near downtown Lubbock to I-40 in Amarillo; the definition was extended south through Lubbock to the south side of the loop in early 1976.<ref name=HDF-IH-27/> The existing freeway sections, including the Canyon Expressway, were absorbed into I-27 despite not being built to [[Interstate standards]]. New construction began in 1975, from Lubbock north to New Deal, and most of the freeway was completed in the 1980s.<ref name=NBI/> Two long sections of US&nbsp;87 were bypassed: [[Happy, Texas|Happy]] to Canyon on December 5, 1986,<ref name=FHWA/> and [[Kress, Texas|Kress]] to Tulia soon after;<ref name=NBI/> I-27 was complete north of Lubbock by 1988.<ref>[[Rand McNally]], 1988 Road Atlas{{full citation needed|date=November 2017}}</ref> Most of the Happy–Canyon bypass was built along the two-lane [[Farm to Market Road 1541|FM&nbsp;1541]], which now ends at exit&nbsp;103 southeast of Canyon.<ref>{{TxDOT|FM|1541|link=no}}</ref>

The final section of I-27 to be built was through Lubbock, inside Loop&nbsp;289; this was built in the early 1990s and completed on September 3, 1992. On that day, a ceremony at the 34th Street overpass opened the road from 19th Street ([[U.S. Route 62 in Texas|US&nbsp;62]]) to 54th Street,<ref>{{cite web |author = Federal Highway Administration |url = https://highways.dot.gov/highway-history/interstate-system/50th-anniversary |title = Previous Interstate Facts of the Day |date = May 5, 2007 |publisher = Federal Highway Administration |access-date =  |archive-date = April 26, 2006 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060426084506/http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/interstate/previousfacts.cfm |url-status = live }}</ref> completing Texas's {{Convert|3200|mi|km|adj=on}} portion of the Interstate Highway System.<ref>{{cite web |author = Texas Department of Transportation |url = http://www.dot.state.tx.us/about_us/2000_1971.htm |title = TxDOT History: 2000 to 1971 |publisher = Texas Department of Transportation |access-date =  |archive-date = September 8, 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070908035041/http://www.dot.state.tx.us/about_us/2000_1971.htm |url-status = live }}</ref> At its south end, the new I-27 connected to an existing freeway upgrade of US&nbsp;87, built about 1970,<ref name=NBI/> to a [[traffic circle]] at [[U.S. Route 84 in Texas|US&nbsp;84]] (just north of Loop&nbsp;289).<ref>{{cite map |author = United States Geological Survey |url = http://msrmaps.com/image.aspx?T=2&S=12&Z=14&X=294&Y=4642&W=3&qs=%7clubbock%7ctx%7c |series = 7.5 minute |title = Southern Lubbock, Texas Quadrangle |date = July 1, 1975 |location = Reston, VA |publisher = United States Geological Survey |via = MSR Maps |access-date = October 21, 2011 |archive-date = July 15, 2022 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220715184753/https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/?from=https%3A%2F%2Fresearch.microsoft.com%2F%3FT%3D2%26S%3D12%26Z%3D14%26X%3D294%26Y%3D4642%26W%3D3%26qs%3D%257Clubbock%257Ctx%257C |url-status = live }}{{full citation needed|date=November 2017}}</ref> The old route of US&nbsp;87 through Lubbock became [[U.S. Highway 87 Business (Lubbock, Texas)|Bus. US&nbsp;87-G]] upon completion of I-27.<ref name=HDF-BU-87-G>{{TxDOT|BU|87|G|link=no}}</ref> Two [[business loop]]s of I-27 have been designated: through Plainview (former Loop&nbsp;445) in early 1991 and through Hale Center (formerly a local street) in 2002.<ref name=HDF-BI-27-U/><ref name=HDF-BI-27-T>{{TxDOT|BI|27|T|link=no}}</ref>

The completion of I-27, costing a total of $453.4&nbsp;million (equivalent to ${{Formatprice|{{inflation|US-GDP|453400000|1992}}}} in {{Inflation/year|index=US-GDP}}{{Inflation/fn|index=US-GDP}}), encouraged growth along the highway: toward the northside of Lubbock and the southwest in Amarillo. Many other areas of Lubbock, however, have not seen this growth.<ref>{{cite news |last1 = Carver |first1 = Jayme Lozano |last2 = Nicholson-Messmer |first2 = Elijah |title = Interstate 27 has divided Lubbock for decades. North and east side residents want that to change. |url = https://www.texastribune.org/2024/07/19/lubbock-texas-interstate-segregation/ |access-date = August 13, 2024 |work = The Texas Tribune |date = July 19, 2024 |language = en }}</ref> Plainview, the largest city between Lubbock and Amarillo, has the only significant [[retail cluster]] outside the two terminal cities and has attracted several industries.{{cn|date=August 2024}}

On September 5, 2024, the [[Federal Highway Administration]] (FHWA) approved a {{convert|4.2|mi|km|adj=mid}} southern extension of I-27 from its previous terminus at Loop&nbsp;289 to {{convert|0.1|mi|km}} north of County Road 7500, the new limit for access control on the US&nbsp;87 freeway north of that point.<ref name="southextension1" /> The Texas Transportation Commission would later also approve the extension at their meeting on September 26, 2024.<ref name="southexpansion2" />