Texas State Highway Loop 7

State Highway Loop 7
State Highway Loop 7
Jed Robinson Loop; Dewitt C. Greer Loop
	SH Loop 7; highlighted in red
Route information
	Maintained by TxDOT
Length	16.6 mi (26.7 km)
Existed	2005–present
Major junctions
	Beltway around Athens
	; SH 31 / Bus. SH 31; ; US 175 / Bus. US 175; ; SH 19 / Bus. SH 19;
Location
Country	United States
State	Texas
Highway system
	Highways in Texas; Interstate; US; State; Toll; Loops; Spurs; FM/RM; Park; Rec;

Loop 7 is a beltway in the U.S. state of Texas around the town of Athens. The highway additionally serves as a bypass for U.S. Highway 175 (US 175), State Highway 19 (SH 19), and SH 31 around the town.

Route description

Loop 7 officially begins at an interchange with SH 31 (West Corsicana Street) west of downtown Athens. SH 31 overlaps with Loop 7 and the two highways turn northeast before having an interchange with US 175; that highway then joins the overlap as well. The beltway turns towards the east and has an interchange with SH 19; SH 19 joins the beltway. Loop 7 continues to run east with SH 31 leaving at an interchange with Business SH 31 (Bus. SH 31, East Tyler Street). Loop 7 turns south at the interchange and has an interchange with Farm to Market Road 2495 (FM 2495). Loop 7 starts turning southeast with US 175 leaving at an interchange with Bus. US 175 (E. Corsicana Street). After US 175 leaves the beltway, Loop 7 turns west with SH 19 leaving at an interchange with Bus. SH 19 (South Palestine Street). After SH 19 leaves the beltway, Loop 7 travels without any concurrences and has an interchange with FM 59 and FM 2494. After the FM 2494 interchange, Loop 7 turns north before arriving back at its start point with SH 31 (West Corsicana Street).

History

Previous route

A previous route numbered Loop 7 was designated on September 26, 1939, as a loop off US 59 (now US 96) through Jasper as a renumbering of SH 8 Spur. On June 12, 1945, the road was reassigned to old US 96 while the former route of Loop 7 became a portion of US 96.^[2] This Loop 7 was cancelled on January 26, 1965.^[3]

Current route

The section of Loop 7 from SH 31 (West Corsicana Street) to FM 317 was originally the westernmost section of FM 317. This portion of FM 317 was redesignated as Loop 7 on January 28, 2005.^[4] On May 30, 2013, SH 31 was rerouted around Athens, bypassing the town and overlapping with Loop 7.^[5]

Junction list

The entire route is in Henderson County. All exits are unnumbered.

Location	Destinations	Notes
Athens	SH 31 west / Bus. SH 31 east – Corsicana, Athens	Interchange; counter-clockwise end of SH 31 concurrency
	US 175 west / Bus. US 175 east – Mabank, Athens	Interchange; counter-clockwise end of US 175 concurrency
	SH 19 north / Bus. SH 19 south – Canton, Athens	Interchange; counter-clockwise end of SH 19 concurrency
	FM 1616 north – Murchison
	SH 31 east / Bus. SH 31 west – Tyler, Athens	Interchange; clockwise end of SH 31 concurrency
	FM 2495 – Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center	Interchange
	US 175 west / Bus. US 175 east – Jacksonville, Athens	Interchange; clockwise end of US 175 concurrency
	SH 19 south / Bus. SH 19 north – Palestine, Athens	Interchange; clockwise end of SH 19 concurrency
	FM 59 – Cayuga, Athens	Interchange
	FM 2494	Interchange
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi Concurrency terminus

References

^ ^a ^b Transportation Planning and Programming Division (n.d.). "State Highway Loop No. 7". Highway Designation Files. Texas Department of Transportation. Retrieved October 12, 2016.
^ "Minutes" (PDF). publicdocs.txdot.gov. Texas Department of Transportation. June 12, 1945. Archived (PDF) from the original on February 23, 2018. Retrieved 28 April 2023.
^ "Minutes" (PDF). publicdocs.txdot.gov. Texas Department of Transportation. January 25, 1965. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 7, 2017. Retrieved 28 April 2023.
^ Transportation Planning and Programming Division (n.d.). "Farm to Market Road No. 317". Highway Designation Files. Texas Department of Transportation. Retrieved October 12, 2016.
^ Transportation Planning and Programming Division (n.d.). "State Highway No. 31". Highway Designation Files. Texas Department of Transportation. Retrieved October 12, 2016.

External links

Media related to Texas State Highway Loop 7 at Wikimedia Commons

[Loop_7-1] Transportation Planning and Programming Division (n.d.). "State Highway Loop No. 7". Highway Designation Files. Texas Department of Transportation. Retrieved October 12, 2016.

[2] "Minutes" (PDF). publicdocs.txdot.gov. Texas Department of Transportation. June 12, 1945. Archived (PDF) from the original on February 23, 2018. Retrieved 28 April 2023.

[3] "Minutes" (PDF). publicdocs.txdot.gov. Texas Department of Transportation. January 25, 1965. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 7, 2017. Retrieved 28 April 2023.

[FM_317-4] Transportation Planning and Programming Division (n.d.). "Farm to Market Road No. 317". Highway Designation Files. Texas Department of Transportation. Retrieved October 12, 2016.

[5] Transportation Planning and Programming Division (n.d.). "State Highway No. 31". Highway Designation Files. Texas Department of Transportation. Retrieved October 12, 2016.

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