U.S. Route 259

U.S. Route 259
Route information
Auxiliary route of US 59
Length:	250 mi (400 km)
Existed:	1963[1] – present
Major junctions
South end:	I-69 / US 59 / Bus. US 59 near Nacogdoches, Tex.
	I-20 near Kilgore, Tex. I-30 near Omaha, Tex.
North end:	US-59 / US-270 near Heavener, Okla.
Location
States:	Texas, Oklahoma
Highway system
United States Numbered Highway System List Bannered Divided Replaced

U.S. Route 259 (US 259, US-259) is a north–south spur of U.S. Route 59 that runs for 250 miles (400 km) through rural areas of northeast Texas and southeast Oklahoma.

The highway's southern terminus is near Nacogdoches, Texas at an interchange with its parent route, US 59. Its northern terminus is in the Ouachita Mountains, about 15 miles (24 km) south of Heavener, Oklahoma where it reunites with U.S. 59. For most of its length, US 259 lies 30–50 miles (48–80 km) to the west of its parent route.

Route description

First reassurance marker heading north from the southern terminus in Nacogdoches, TX

Texas

US 259 begins at an intersection with its parent, US 59 (Future Interstate 69), on the north side of Nacogdoches, Texas. The highway continues due north, passing through Mount Enterprise, and around the eastern side of Henderson and Kilgore. In Kilgore, Texas, US 259 is known as the Charles K. Devall Memorial Highway, as named by the Texas legislature.^[2] It then has a concurrency with Interstate 20 of about 6 miles (9.7 km), then continues north around the eastern edge of Longview along Eastman Rd. The highway continues due north, crossing Interstate 30 in northern Morris County, and crossing into Oklahoma in northwest Bowie County.

Oklahoma

Northern terminus of US 259 in the Ouachita Mountains

After crossing into McCurtain County, Oklahoma, US-259 immediately meets up with State Highway 87, and continues north through Harris. Maps indicate that US-259 and SH-87 overlap to Idabel, but officially, this is not the case,^[3] and ODOT signage does not reflect a concurrency.

US-259 bypasses Idabel to the south and east, concurring with U.S. Highway 70 Bypass. East of Idabel, the bypass route ends, and US-259 begins a concurrency with mainline US-70 and SH-3. The three highways continue north to Broken Bow, where US-70 splits to the east toward DeQueen, Arkansas and SH-3 splits to the west, bound for Antlers. US-259 continues north alone, taking a winding path through the Ouachita Mountains of southeastern Oklahoma. The route passes Broken Bow Lake on its west side, with State Highway 259A serving as an access loop to the lake and Beavers Bend State Resort. Near the lake, US-259 crosses through the Ouachita National Forest for the first time. Near Smithville, the highway serves as the western terminus of State Highway 4.

North of the SH-4 junction, US-259 crosses into Le Flore County. The U.S. route then serves as the eastern terminus of SH-144 near Octavia. US-259 reenters the National Forest north of this junction, and intersects SH-63 at Big Cedar. It then has a junction with SH-1, the Talimena Drive. The highway reunites with US-59 about 10 miles (16 km) south of Heavener, reaching its northern terminus.

History

In Texas, the highway was designated in 1962 and assumed the entire route of the State Highway 26, which was then cancelled.^[4]

Prior to 1985, US 259 between Kilgore and Longview followed the current route of Texas State Highway 31. It entered Longview from the SW at the intersection of South St. and Spur 63. It then followed Spur 63 to US 80. US 259 then ran concurrently with US 80 to Eastman Rd. At the US 80/Eastman Rd. intersection, it reunited with the current route of US 259. In 1985, US 259 was rerouted to its current route along Interstate 20 to Eastman Rd, along the eastern edge of Longview, bypassing the central business district.

Major intersections

State	County	Location	mi[5]	km	Destinations	Notes
Texas	Nacogdoches	​			US 59 / Bus. US 59 south – Nacogdoches, Garrison, Lufkin, SFASU	interchange
		Central Heights			FM 698 west
		​			SH 204 west – Cushing
		​			FM 2664 east
		​			FM 1087 east
	Rusk	Mount Enterprise			US 84 (Rusk Street) – Rusk, Timpson
					SH 315 east – Carthage
		​			FM 2496 west
		​			FM 1798 – Laneville, Minden	interchange
		​			FM 3310 north
		Henderson			US 79 south – Jacksonville, Palestine	south end of US 79 overlap
					Bus. US 79 south / FM 840 south – Downtown Henderson
					US 79 north / SH 43 north / SH 64 west – Tyler, Tatum, Carthage	north end of US 79 overlap
					FM 782 east – Oak Hill
					SH 322 north – Airport
		​			Loop 571 south (Landon Alford Loop)
		​			FM 2276 south	south end of FM 2276 overlap
		​			FM 2276 north	north end of FM 2276 overlap
		Jacobs			FM 850 – Overton
		Pitner Junction			FM 918 west – Overton
		​			Bus. US 259 north – Kilgore	interchange; northbound exit and southbound entrance
		​			FM 1249	interchange
	Gregg	​			FM 2204	interchange
		Kilgore			FM 349
					Bus. US 259 south (SH 31 west) – Kilgore	interchange; southbound exit and northbound entrance; south end of SH 31 overlap
		Kinsloe			I-20 west / SH 31 east – Dallas	north end of SH 31 overlap; south end of I-20 overlap; US 259 south follows exit 589
		​			FM 2087 / FM 2011	I-20 exit 591
		Longview			SH 322 south (Estes Parkway) / Loop 281 north – Longview, Airport	I-20 exit 595
					I-20 east / SH 149 south – Shreveport, Carthage	north end of I-20 overlap; south end of SH 149 overlap; US 259 north follows exit 596
					US 80 – Downtown Longview, Hallsville, Marshall, Kilgore College	north end of SH 149 overlap
					FM 2208 (Alpine Street) – Harleton
					Loop 281	interchange
		​			FM 1844 west
		​			FM 2751
		​			Spur 502 south – Downtown Longview
		​			FM 449 east
		​			FM 1650 west – Gilmer
	Upshur	Diana			FM 3245 east
					SH 154 – Gilmer, Marshall
		Old Diana			FM 726 – Lake O' The Pines, Jefferson
		Ore City			FM 450 south / FM 1649 west – Harleton, Lake O' The Pines
		​			SH 155 – Linden, Gilmer	interchange
		​			FM 557 west – Pittsburg
	Camp	No major junctions
	Morris	Lone Star			FM 729 east (Lone Star Boulevard) – Jefferson, Lake O' The Pines North Shore
					FM 250 north (Industrial Boulevard) – Hughes Springs
		​			FM 3421 east
		Jenkins			FM 144 north / FM 997 south – Cason
		Daingerfield			SH 11 east / SH 49 east (W.M. Watson Boulevard) – Hughes Springs, Linden, Jefferson, Daingerfield State Park	south end of SH 11 / SH 49 overlap
					SH 11 west (W.M. Watson Boulevard) – Pittsburg	north end of SH 11 overlap
					FM 130 east
		​			SH 49 west – Mount Pleasant	north end of SH 49 overlap
		Rocky Branch			SH 338 north – Naples
		​			Spur 284 west
		Omaha			US 67 – Mount Pleasant, Texarkana, Omaha Business District
		​			FM 144 south
		​			SH 77 east
		​			I-30 – Dallas, Texarkana	I-30 exit 178
		​			FM 71 west – Talco
	Bowie	​			FM 561 east – Dalby Springs
		​			FM 44 east / FM 992 east	south end of FM 44 overlap
		​			FM 44 west to FM 992	north end of FM 44 overlap
		​			FM 1701 west
		De Kalb			US 82 – De Kalb, Clarksville	interchange
Spring Hill				FM 114 west / FM 2735 south – Clarksville
Red River			0.0	0.0	Bridge
Oklahoma	McCurtain	​	1.9	3.1	SH-87 east – Foreman, AR	Western terminus of SH-87
		Idabel	19.6	31.5	US-70 Byp. west to SH-37 / Central Street – Idabel, truck route to US-70 west, Airport	Southern terminus of US-70 Byp. concurrency
			22.6	36.4	SH-3 east (Washington Street) – Idabel, Haworth	Southern terminus of SH-3 concurrency
			24.5	39.4	US-70 west – Hugo, Airport	north end of US 70 Byp. overlap; southern terminus of US-70 concurrency
		Broken Bow	32.3	52.0	US-70 east / SH-3 west (Veterans Way / Martin Luther King Drive) – Antlers, DeQueen, AR	Northern terminus of US-70 / SH-3 concurrency
			38.6	62.1	SH-259A east – Beavers Bend	Southern terminus of SH-259A
			40.6	65.3	SH-259A east – Beavers Bend, Broken Bow Dam	Northern terminus of SH-259A
		​			Bethel, Battiest	former SH-144 west
		Smithville	70.7	113.8	SH-4 east – Smithville	Western terminus of SH-4
	Le Flore	​	75.4	121.3	SH-144 west – Octavia	Eastern terminus of SH-144
		Big Cedar	89.6	144.2	SH-63 – Talihina, Mena
		​	94.6	152.2	SH-1 (Talimena Drive)	interchange
		​	98.9	159.2	US-59 / US-270	Northern terminus of US-259
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus

Bannered routes

Kilgore business route

Business US Highway 259
Location:	Kilgore, Texas
Existed:	2006–present

US-259 has one Business route in Texas. In 2006, a new bypass was completed around the eastern side of Kilgore. The bypass had been proposed as early as 1965, but funding did not become available until the late 1990s. The new bypass was designated as US-259, while the previous route through the Kilgore business district was designated as a business route. The new business route was approved by the AASHO in September 2006.

Idabel bypass

U.S. Route 259 Bypass
Location:	Idabel, Oklahoma
Existed:	?–2000

Formerly, US-259 continued into downtown Idabel, and the southeast portion of the Idabel bypass was double-designated as US-70 Bypass and US-259 Bypass. On 6 March 2000, the bypass route was decommissioned, and mainline US-259 was moved onto the bypass.^[6] However, as of 2008, some bypass signage is still in place, including signage indicating the former terminus of Bypass US-259 at US-70/SH-3.

SH-259A

SH-259A is a 10-mile (16 km) loop to Broken Bow Lake and Beavers Bend Resort Park north of Broken Bow, Oklahoma. It lies partially in the Ouachita National Forest and is occasionally signed as a U.S. highway.

See also

Related routes

• U.S. Route 59
• U.S. Route 159

References

External links

Media related to U.S. Route 259 at Wikimedia Commons

Browse numbered routes
← SH-251A	OK	US-266 →