Texas State Highway Spur 77

Texas State Highway Spur 77 or Spur 77 is a spur road maintained by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) connecting the University of Texas at Austin's McDonald Observatory complex atop Mt. Fowlkes to Spur 78 16.3 miles (26.2 km) from Fort Davis.[2] The road is 0.5 miles (0.8 km) long and is located within Jeff Davis County.

State Highway Spur 77
Spur 77 highlighted in red
Route information
Maintained by TxDOT
Length0.478 mi[1] (0.769 km)
ExistedOctober 25, 1990–present
HistoryFormerly a route in Swisher County
Major junctions
South endMt. Fowlkes summit, McDonald Observatory
North end Spur 78
Location
CountiesJeff Davis
Highway system
← Loop 76Spur 78 →
Spur 77 descending Mt. Fowlkes. Spur 78 ascends Mt. Locke in the distance.

Previously, the route designation belonged to a loop road in the Texas Panhandle.

History

Swisher County

The numerical designation originally belonged to Texas State Highway Loop 77 in the town of Tulia in Swisher County. This original route was in place by the time the state's Highway Designation Files were established in 1939. The Tulia loop began at the intersection of U.S. Route 87 and State Highway 86 and continued east along SH 86 to the present day Farm to Market Road 146. The loop then followed north over the route of FM 146 to the intersection with present-day FM 1318. The loop then continued west back to US 87.

On August 6, 1951, the loop designation was dropped along the portions following FM 146, and the designation of the remaining portion was eliminated on September 4, 1963 with that stretch reassigned to FM 1318.[1]

Jeff Davis County

The current spur was established on October 25, 1990 to provide state highway access to McDonald's growing cluster of observational facilities at the summit of Mt. Fowlkes.[1]

Route description

The spur begins at McDonald Observatory's complex of facilities at the summit of Mt. Fowlkes including NASA's Laser Ranging System and the Hobby-Eberly Telescope. The spur then follows 0.5 miles (0.8 km) along the saddle of a ridge joining Mt. Fowlkes to Mt. Locke until it terminates at Spur 78 1.0 mile (1.6 km) from SH 118 and 0.5 miles (0.8 km) from the observatory's facilities atop Mt. Locke.

Major intersections

The entire route is in McDonald Observatory, Jeff Davis County.

mi[1]kmDestinationsNotes
00.0Mt. Fowlkes summitSouthern terminus
0.50.80 Spur 78Northern terminus
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

See also
  • U.S. Roads portal
  • Texas portal

References
  1. Transportation Planning and Programming Division (n.d.). "State Highway Spur No. 77". Highway Designation Files. Texas Department of Transportation. Retrieved 2009-12-12.
  2. Google (2009-12-12). "Route between Fort Davis and Mt. Fowlkes" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 2009-12-12.

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Geographic data related to Texas State Highway Spur77 at OpenStreetMap

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