Houston / Beltway 8 photograph archive
Beltway 8 southern main lanes
Travel west across the southern Sam Houston Tollway in four views from Monroe Road to US 90A. Open stretches of road and simple interchanges show this part of Houston before the widening anticipated in the original account.
East to west · May 22–23, 2001 photographs
Collection: TexasFreeway Houston photographs
Four main lanes, regular overpasses and a corridor still bordered by open land.
Southern segment road photographs
Southern main lanes
↗ EnlargeEast along the tollway near Monroe Road
(high resolution 154k) Looking east along the tollway. There is very little variety in the design of the southern segment. Virtually all of it looks just like this: four lanes with an overpass about every mile. 22-May-2001.
↗ EnlargeWest near Mykawa Road
(high resolution 90k) Driver's view looking west near Mykawa Road. 22-May-2001.
↗ EnlargeSam Houston Tollway at Texas 288
(high resolution 90k) Looking northeast at the interchange at Texas 288, the South Freeway. The Sam Houston Tollway is the upper level. Connections are made via the feeder roads. Until recently, there were stop signs at the feeder roads. There are presently no plans to add direct connectors, although they'll surely be added at some point in the long term future. 22-May-2001.
May 23, 2001
Late evening at US 90A
(high resolution 127k) A late evening view of the intersection at US 90A. This is a three level interchange with the feeder roads below grade, US 90A at grade level, and the Sam Houston Tollway at the upper level. 23-May-2001.
Route orientation
Beltway 8 southern segment overview map
Beltway 8 southern segment overview map
From the original archive
Beltway 8 southern segment
Sam Houston Tollway / Beltway 8 — Views of Main Lanes on the Southern Segment, US 59 South to Interstate 45 South
Return to Beltway 8 Index
Completed in 1997, this is the most recent section of the Sam Houston tollway to open. The entire length of the this section is a four lane tollway. The feeder roads are continuous and have 3 lanes in each direction. The right-of-way width of this section typically varies from 300 to 350 feet, so there is plenty of room to add main lanes in the future. This part of Houston is still mostly undeveloped.
Tollway/Freeway History, Southern segment
| 1952 | City of Houston planning documents identify the need for an outer loop. |
|---|---|
| Late 1950's | The beltway is added to Houston's official freeway plan as a full freeway. The eastern section of Beltway 8 is constructed exactly where shown in the 1950's document. |
| Early to mid 1990's | Construction of six-lane feeder roads. This was the last section of BW8 to have its feeder roads constructed. |
| 1997 | The tollway is opened. |
Photos start from the east end and proceed westward.