Farm to Market Road 1093

      Farm to Market Road 1093 marker

      Farm to Market Road 1093
      Route information
      Length: 54.4 mi[1] (87.548 km)
      Existed: 1949 – present
      Major junctions
      West end: FM 3013 in Eagle Lake
        SH 6 in Houston
      Beltway 8 in Houston
      East end: I-610 in Houston
      Highway system
      FM 1092 FM 1094

      Farm to Market Road 1093 (FM 1093) is a 50.476-mile (81.233 km) farm to market road in the U.S. state of Texas. It begins in Eagle Lake at FM 3013 and heads east to Interstate 610 in Houston. In Houston, a portion of FM 1093 becomes "Westheimer Road", where the FM 1093 designation is downplayed significantly.

      East of Loop 610, Westheimer Rd. becomes Elgin at Bagby St. (Midtown District) and terminates at Spur 5 adjacent to the campus of the University of Houston.

      Westheimer Rd. is named after M.L. Westheimer, who owned a farm in the 1920s near what is now the Uptown District of Houston. His nephews include Mark Westheimer, a locally famous attorney, and David Westheimer, author of Von Ryan's Express and many other novels.

      The official designation for FM 1093 from SH 99 to Loop 610 is Urban Road 1093, though this moniker is limited to state highway markers. The only place the Urban Road 1093 designation is used is the Texas Department of Transportation's official files.

      In Houston, FM 1093 is a major thoroughfare through west Houston and outlying neighborhoods, with sections 8 lanes wide, not including turning lanes.

      History

      FM 1093 was designated in 1949, more than a decade before the I-10 Katy Freeway opened. As west Houston was sparsely populated at the time, the road served mainly as a transportation route for cargo in and out of Houston. In the 1960s, the west side went through major growth after the Katy Freeway was foreseen, and neighborhoods and businesses quickly developed. 1093, popularly known in the city as Westheimer, became a major thoroughfare for westside residents traveling into Uptown Houston and Downtown Houston.

      Throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, Westheimer became clogged with offices, restaurants and strip malls all along its route (notably including the Westchase District). Due to major traffic, the road's lane capacity expanded many times as popularity continued to grow.

      Effects of Westpark Tollway

      The Westpark Tollway, opened in 2005, was purposely designed to lessen Westheimer's traffic flow and serve as a thoroughfare for travelers from George Bush Park and Bellaire. Both the Westpark Tollway and 1093 run almost parallel to each other, changing the opposite's traffic flow. West of State Highway 6, FM 1093 and Westpark Tollway merge into one route, with FM 1093 forming the free frontage roads, while the Westpark Tollway forms the main lanes.[citation needed]

      The tollway has not drastically diverted traffic on Westheimer and is open solely to EZ Tag users. The tollway is designed to provide easier access to freeways such as Highway 59 and others which 1093 doesn't serve. Before the Katy Freeway was significantly modernized and widened (west of the I-610 Loop) in 2008-2009, congestion on Westheimer and Westpark Tollway was far heavier than it is currently.

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      Junction list

      County Location Mile[1] km Destinations Notes
      Colorado
      Eagle Lake 0.0 0.0 FM 3013 Western terminus of FM 1093
      Chesterville 6.7 10.8 FM 2764 to Lissie Northern terminus of FM 2764
      Wharton
      No major junctions
      Austin
      Wallis 15.0 24.1 SH 36 to Sealy West end of SH 36 concurrency
      15.5 24.9 SH 60 to East Bernard Northern terminus of SH 60
      15.6 25.1 SH 36 to Rosenberg East end of SH 36 concurrency
        17.5 28.2 FM 1458 to San Felipe Southern terminus of FM 1458
      Fort Bend
      Simonton 22.3 35.9 FM 1489 (Simonton Rd) to Brookshire North end of FM 1489 concurrency
      22.3 35.9 FM 1489 (Simonton Rd) to Orchard South end of FM 1489 concurrency
      Fulshear 27.0 43.5 FM 359 (Main Street) to Brookshire West end of FM 359 concurrency
        30.3 48.8 FM 359 / FM 1463 to RichmondKaty East end of FM 359 concurrency
        32.3 52.0 FM 723 (Spring Green Rd) to Rosenberg Northern terminus of FM 723
        34.0 54.7 Westpark Tollway begins FM 1093 becomes frontage roads for tollway
        34.5 55.5 SH 99 (Grand Parkway) to New TerritoryKaty
      Houston 39.7 63.9 Westpark Tollway FM 1093 splits from Westpark Tollway
      39.9 64.2 FM 1464 (Clodine Road) to New Territory Northern terminus of FM 1464
      Harris
      43.1 69.4 SH 6 to Sugar Land
      48.4 77.9 Beltway 8 / Sam Houston Tollway
      54.4 87.5 I-610 Eastern terminus of FM 1093
      •       Concurrency terminus
      •       Closed/former
      •       HOV only
      •       Incomplete access
      •       Tolled/ETC
      •       Unopened
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      References

      Route map: Google / Bing

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      Last modified on 8 June 2013, at 03:11