NAFTA Superhighway | |
Route information | |
Length | 910.1 mi (1,464.7 km) Original length 355.8 miles (572.6 km)[1] |
Existed | 1957–present |
History |
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NHS | Entire route |
Major junctions | |
South end | US 59 in Rosenberg, TX |
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East end | Highway 402 at Canada–US border on Blue Water Bridge in Port Huron, MI |
Location | |
Country | United States |
States | Texas, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, Michigan |
Highway system | |
Interstate 69 (I-69) is an Interstate Highway in the United States currently consisting of eight unconnected segments. The longest segment runs from Evansville, Indiana, northeast to the Canadian border in Port Huron, Michigan, and includes the original continuous segment from Indianapolis, Indiana, to Port Huron of 355.8 miles (572.6 km). The remaining separated segments are variously completed and posted or not posted sections of an extension southwest to the Mexican border in Texas. Of this extension—nicknamed the NAFTA Superhighway because it would help trade with Canada and Mexico spurred by the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)—seven pieces in Laredo, Texas; Pharr, Texas; Brownsville, Texas; Corpus Christi, Texas; Houston, Texas; northwestern Mississippi; and Memphis, Tennessee, have been built or upgraded and signposted as I-69. Indiana completed the fifth segment that extends I-69 through that state in August 2024.[2]
A sixth segment of I-69 through Kentucky utilizing that state's existing parkway system and a section of I-24 was established by federal legislation in 2008 with several more parkway segments being upgraded since then. This brings the total length to approximately 880 miles (1,420 km).
The proposed extension evolved from the combination of Corridors 18 and 20 of the National Highway System as designated in the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA), but the federally recognized corridor also includes connecting and existing infrastructure, including I-94 between Chicago, Illinois, and Port Huron, Michigan, and several spurs from I-69. Among these proposed spurs are an extension of I-530 from Pine Bluff, Arkansas; an upgrade of U.S. Route 59 (US 59) from Texarkana, Texas being designated as Interstate 369; and a split in southern Texas (I-69E, I-69C, I-69W) to serve three border crossings at Brownsville, Pharr, and Laredo.
In August 2007, I-69 was selected by the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) as one of six Corridors of the Future, making it eligible for additional federal funding and streamlined planning and review.[3] This funding has since been withheld, causing some states to suspend completion of the entire route until federal funding is restored. There is no estimated timeline for completion of the entire I-69 route.