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U.S. Highway 259 Bypass
U.S. Highway 259 Bypass
Location	Idabel, Oklahoma
Existed	2000

Business U.S. Highway 259
Business U.S. Highway 259
Location	Kilgore, Texas
Existed	2006–present

U.S. Route 259
U.S. Route 259
	US 259 highlighted in red
Route information
	Auxiliary route of US 59
Length	250 mi (400 km)
Existed	1963–present
Major junctions
South end	; ; Future I-69 / US 59 / I-69 BL / Bus. US 59 near Nacogdoches, TX;
	US 84 at Mount Enterprise, TX; US 79 at Henderson, TX; I-20 at Kinsloe, TX; US 80 at Longview, TX; US 67 at Omaha, TX; I-30 near Omaha, TX; US 82 at De Kalb, TX; US 70 / SH-3 from Idabel, OK to Broken Bow, OK;
North end	US 59 / US 270 near Heavener, OK
Location
Country	United States
States	Texas, Oklahoma
Highway system
	United States Numbered Highway System; List; Special; Divided;

U.S. Route 259 (US 259) is a north–south spur of U.S. Route 59 that runs for 250 miles (400 km) through rural areas of northeastern Texas and southeastern 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, approximately 15 miles (24 km) south of Heavener, Oklahoma, where it reunites with US 59. For most of its length, US 259 lies 30–50 miles (48–80 km) to the west of its parent route.

Route description

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

After crossing into McCurtain County, Oklahoma, US-259 immediately meets 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 a previous iteration and alignment of State Highway 26, which was then cancelled.^[4] (The SH 26 designation has since returned, on another roadway elsewhere in the state.)

Prior to 1985, US 259 between Kilgore and Longview followed the current route of Texas State Highway 31. It entered Longview from the southwest at the intersection of South Street and Spur 63. It then followed Spur 63 to US 80. US 259 then ran concurrently with US 80 to Eastman Road. At the US 80/Eastman Rd. intersection, the previous alignment of US 259 turned left to go north on Eastman. In 1985, US 259 was rerouted to its current route along Interstate 20 to Eastman Road, then left to go north, along the eastern edge of Longview, bypassing the central business district.

Major intersections

State	County	Location	mi^[5]	km	Exit	Destinations	Notes
Texas	Nacogdoches	Redfield	0.00	0.00		Future I-69 / US 59 / I-69 BL south / Bus. US 59 south (North Street) – Nacogdoches, Garrison, Lufkin, SFASU	Interchange; southern terminus; road continues as Bus. I-69 south/Bus. US 59 south (North Street); U.S. 59 is the future Interstate 69
						FM 698 west
						SH 204 west – Cushing
						FM 2664 east
						FM 1087 east
	Rusk	Mount Enterprise				US 84 (Rusk Street) – Rusk, Timpson
		Mount Enterprise				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	Interchange
		Kilgore				Bus. US 259 south (SH 31 west) – Kilgore	Interchange; southbound exit and northbound entrance; south end of SH 31 overlap
		Kinsloe				SH 31 east to I-20 west	North end of SH 31 overlap
		Kinsloe				I-20 west – Dallas	South end of I-20 overlap; southbound exit and northbound entrance; I-20 exit 589; southbound entrance via Post Oak Road
					591	FM 2087 (Old Kilgore Highway) / FM 2011	Exit numbers follow I-20
		Longview			595	SH 322 south (Estes Parkway) / Loop 281 north – Downtown, Longview, Amtrak	Split into exits 595A (south) and 595B (north) northbound
						I-20 east / SH 149 south (Eastman Road south) – Carthage	North end of I-20 overlap; south end of SH 149 overlap; I-20 exit 596
						SH 149 ends / US 80 (Marshall Avenue) – Downtown Longview, Hallsville, Marshall, Kilgore College	Northern terminus of SH 149; 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
		Diana				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
		Lone Star				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
Oklahoma	Red River		151.1 0.00	243.2 0.00		Bridge over the Red River
	McCurtain		1.9	3.1		SH-87 east – Foreman Ark.	Western terminus of SH-87
		Idabel	19.6	31.5		US 70 Byp. west (SW Lincoln Road)	Southern end of US-70 Byp. concurrency; serves McCurtain County Regional Airport
			22.6	36.4		SH-3 east (Washington Street) – Haworth	Southern end of SH-3 concurrency
			24.5	39.4		US 70 Byp. ends / US 70 west – Southeastern Oklahoma State University McCurtain Campus, Hugo	Eastern terminus of US-70 Byp.; northern end of US-70 Byp. concurrency; southern end of US-70 concurrency
		Broken Bow	32.3	52.0		US 70 east (Martin Luther King Drive) / SH-3 west (Veterans Way) – Antlers, DeQueen Ark.	Northern end of US-70 / SH-3 concurrency
			38.6	62.1		SH-259A east – Beavers Bend	Clockwise terminus of SH-259A
			40.6	65.3		SH-259A – Beavers Bend, Broken Bow Dam	Counterclockwise terminus of SH-259A
		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 Scenic Drive)	Interchange via connector road
			98.9	159.2		US 59 / US 270	Northern terminus
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi Concurrency terminus Incomplete access

Special routes

Kilgore business route

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

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^[update], 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, an Oklahoma state highway, 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.

References

^ "Highway Re-Numbered". The Daily Oklahoman. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. February 9, 1963. p. 34. Retrieved December 18, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 1193, § 1, eff. June 15, 2001
^ 2008 Control Section Maps (PDF) (Map). Oklahoma Department of Transportation. p. McCurtain 45. Retrieved 2008-06-06.
^ Transportation Planning and Programming Division (n.d.). "U.S. Highway No. 259". Highway Designation Files. Texas Department of Transportation. Retrieved June 17, 2015.
^ "US-259 in Oklahoma" (Map). Google Maps. Retrieved June 26, 2014.
^ Oklahoma Department of Transportation, Planning & Research Division. "Memorial Dedication & Revision History - US-259". Retrieved 2008-06-09.