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| Interstate 2 (i2) is an east–west Interstate Highway
(IH) running through the Lower Rio Grande Valley of
South Texas. It begins at the intersection of US 83 and
Business US 83 west of Mission and heads eastward before
terminating at i69E/US 77 in Harlingen. For its entire
length, i2 shares its alignment with US 83. I2 also
parallels Mexican Federal Highway 2, a major east–west
route that traces the Mexico-U.S. border along the
Mexican shore of the Rio Grande. |
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| On April 1, 2013, the Texas
Transportation Commission applied to use the i2
designation on US 83 from Palmview to Harlingen.
Approved by the American Association of State Highway
and Transportation Officials at their May meeting, this
47-mile-long freeway is already constructed as an
Interstate-grade limited-access facility. It connects
with i69E at Harlingen; and likewise with i69C near the
town of Pharr. The Federal Highway Administration
approved the designation on May 24, 2013, and the Texas
Transportation Commission followed suit on May 30, 2013.
This action finalized the designations of not only i2,
but also of the sections of i69E from Brownsville to
Raymondville, i69C from Pharr north to the end of the US
281 freeway facility near Edinburg, and also i369 along
a short segment of US 59 freeway west of Texarkana,
which will be part of the proposed 115-mile connector
between the main i69 trunk in Tenaha and Texarkana.
These approvals added over 100 miles to the Interstate
Highway System in the Rio Grande Valley. The
signage was installed in summer 2013. |
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As of June 2013, the cluster consisting of the recently
designated portions of i2, i69C, and i69E in the Rio Grande
Valley is not connected to the national Interstate network. This
situation is slated to be remedied by scheduled projects to
complete i69E along US 77 between Raymondville and Robstown, and
to complete the southern end of the previously signed portion of
the i69 corridor connecting with i37 west of Corpus Christi.
Environmental Protection Agency approval for the upgrade of the
US 77 alignment to Interstate standards, including bypasses of
the towns along the 91-mile routing, was obtained through a
Finding of No Significant Impact statement issued on July 13,
2012; funding for the various projects to effect the upgrades is
slated to become available after 2015. |
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