Texas State Highway 349

State Highway 349
Route information
Maintained by TxDOT
Length	194.427 mi[1] (312.900 km)
Existed	1943–present
Major junctions
South end	US 90 at Dryden
	I-10 near Sheffield US 190 at Iraan US 67 at Rankin I-20 at Midland
North end	SH 137 near Lamesa
Location
Counties	Terrell, Pecos, Crockett, Upton, Midland, Martin, Dawson
Highway system
Highways in Texas Interstate US State Toll Loops Spurs FM/RM Park Rec ← SH 348 SH 350 →

State Highway 349 or SH 349 is a 194.43-mile-long (312.90 km) state highway in the western part of Texas, United States.

History

The original formation of the highway on August 3, 1943 included only the section from Rankin to Midland, replacing FM 9.^[2] On April 30, 1947, FM 306 and FM 177 were redesignated to form the segment of SH 349 from Midland to near Lamesa. The section from Sheffield to Rankin was added on October 24, 1956 by redesignating part of SH 51.

The part of SH 349 south of Sheffield was Farm to Market Road 1217, which was designated on July 14, 1949 from Dryden northward 5 miles (8 km).^[3] FM 1217 was extended to the northeast 3.2 miles (5.1 km) on May 23, 1951, 7.0 miles (11.3 km) on December 18, 1951, 14.0 miles (22.5 km) on December 17, 1952, and 2.3 miles (3.7 km) on April 24, 1954. The designation was extended 10.0 miles (16.1 km) on September 29, 1954 to the end of FM 1749, which was cancelled and combined with FM 1217, adding 17.8 miles (28.6 km) and bringing its southern terminus to Sheffield. On December 13, 1956, FM 1217 was signed, but not designated, as part of SH 349. In 1990, FM 1217 was officially designated as SH 349, and FM 1217 was cancelled. On July 31, 2003, SH 349 was rerouted around Midland.

In December 2014, the Texas Transportation Commission approved an extension of the SH 349 designation south of Lamesa, from the current northern terminus at SH 137 eastward to US 87. As of January 2015, this segment has not been constructed.^[4]

Route description

SH 349 runs generally northward from its originating junction with U.S. Highway 90 at the tiny town of Dryden (population 13) near the Rio Grande, the southern border of the state. The road passes west of the Fort Lancaster State Historical Park to Sheffield and a junction with Interstate 10. SH 349 then runs along the Pecos River to Iraan, where it is co-routed for a few miles with U.S. Highway 190. The road then proceeds northward to a junction and brief co-routing with U.S. Highway 67 at Rankin. SH 349 continues northward to the relatively heavily populated area of Midland.

SH 349 formerly bisected Midland directly through the city center. However, the highway has been redesignated to loop around Midland to the west, by co-routing it with portions of Interstate 20 (and State Highway 158) and Farm to Market Road 1788. A new section of highway, a so-called "reliever route", was opened on December 10, 2009, and was named the Nadine and Tom Craddick Highway after State Rep. Tom Craddick and his wife, who played a large role in creating the highway.^[5] (This new section of SH 349 is part of the "La Entrada al Pacifico Corridor" trade route from west Texas to Mexico). The portion of SH 349 that ran directly through Midland was redesignated as Business State Highway 349-C (BS 349-C) in 2003.^[6] North of Midland, SH 349 proceeds generally northward to its final junction with State Highway 137, just south of Lamesa. Counties traversed by the highway include Terrell, Pecos, Crockett, Upton, Midland, Martin and Dawson. With the exception of the metropolitan area of Midland, most of the terrain covered by the highway is sparsely populated ranch country.^[7]

Major intersections

County	Location	mi	km	Destinations	Notes
Terrell	Dryden			US 90 – Sanderson, Del Rio	Southern terminus
	​			RM 3166 east
	​			RM 2400 west
Pecos	Sheffield			SH 290 east (Main Street) – Ozona	South end of SH 290 overlap
	​			I-10 – Fort Stockton, Ozona	North end of SH 290 overlap; I-10 exit 325
	Iraan			US 190 east – Eldorado	South end of US 190 overlap
	​			US 190 west – Fort Stockton	North end of US 190 overlap
Crockett	No major junctions
Upton	​			US 67 south – Fort Stockton	South end of US 67 overlap
	Rankin			SH 329 west – Crane
				US 67 north – Big Lake	North end of US 67 overlap
	​			Spur 576 south
	​			RM 1555 east – Texon
	​			RM 2401 north – Midkiff
Midland	​			FM 1379 north
	​			FM 1787 west – Pleasant Farms
	​			FM 1213 north
	Midland			I-20 east / Bus. SH 349 north – Stanton, Midland	South end of I-20 overlap; I-20 exit 136
		see I-20
				I-20 west / FM 1788 south – Odessa	North end of I-20 overlap; South end of FM 1788 overlap; I-20 exit 125
				BL I-20 – Odessa, Midland	Interchange
				Loop 40 east – Midland International Airport
				Loop 40 east – Midland International Airport
	​			SH 191 – Odessa, Midland	Interchange
	​			FM 1788 north	North end of FM 1788 overlap
	​			SH 158 – Andrews, Midland	Interchange
	Midland			Bus. SH 349 south – Midland
Martin	​			SH 176 – Andrews, Big Spring	Interchange
Dawson	Patricia			FM 828 – Andrews, Klondike
	​			SH 115 west – Andrews
	​			FM 829
	​			FM 2051 west
	​			FM 2052 west	South end of FM 2052 overlap
	​			FM 2052 east to US 87 / US 180	North end of FM 2052 overlap
	​			SH 137 – Lamesa, Stanton	Northern terminus
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus

See also

• U.S. Roads portal
• Texas portal

References

External links

Route map:

Geographic data related to Texas State Highway 349 at OpenStreetMap

• Texas official travel map at the Texas Department of Transportation (enlargement required for legibility)
• Construction notice for new portion of SH 349 to complete loop to the western side of Midland