Route Description
West of Austin, U.S. 290 is a rather scenic route through the Texas Hill Country, passing through the towns of Fredericksburg and Johnson City, and hence close to the historical sites connected with Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, a top commander during the War in the Pacific (1941–45) and the deceased President from Texas, Lyndon Baines Johnson. East of Austin, U.S. 290 is a divided highway that passes through or near the towns of Giddings and Brenham.
In Austin, U.S. 290 runs concurrently with Interstate 35 for approximately 8 miles (13 km), including the Downtown Austin area.
U.S. 290 is part of a hurricane evacuation route. That route starts at SH 6 in Galveston. SH 6 is taken to U.S. 290. Then U.S. 290 is taken to where SH 6 and US 290 break apart. Then SH 6 is taken to Waco.
In Harris County outside of Houston, State Highway 6 (SH 6) joins with U.S. 290 and the two highways run concurrently until splitting just north of Hempstead.
The large remnant of U.S. 290 continues to be an important highway, one that connects Austin with Interstate 10, and from there eastward to Houston. Parts of U.S. 290 in Austin and near Houston are multilane freeways.
In Houston, U.S. 290 is sometimes called the Northwest Freeway. The Texas Legislature officially designated this highway within Harris County as the Ronald Reagan Memorial Highway in 2005.
Read more about this topic: U.S. Route 290
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