The West Houston Archives

   In Houston, I-10 is either referred to as the Katy Freeway, or the East Freeway, depending on which side of downtown you are on.  The East Freeway passes through Beaumont, Tx., continuing on to Louisiana, and the Katy Freeway runs through the town of Katy, and on to San Antonio.  Prior to its designation as Interstate 10, the original east/west right of way was known as US Highway 90 through Houston.  US-90 still exists, technically, but it has been absorbed by I-10, until you get to downtown Katy, where I-10 curves off to the south past Katy Mills Mall.  From that curve, US-90 continues due west, paralleling the old railroad right-of-way through the heart of Katy.

   Going back even further into history, US-90 was not the original road cutting west through the center of West Houston.  As far back as the late 19th century, there was Katy Rd., just another narrow road like any other in Houston that led from one town site to another.  Katy Rd. followed the railroad right-of-way, and was eventually made into a paved asphalt configuration.  Eventually, US-90 came through the area, superseding Katy Rd., which was redesignated "Old Katy Rd."

   For many Houston residents born after the 1970's, Old Katy Rd. was just an alternate route to I-10, a side street; but it was once the primary route to Katy.   After the 2008 expansion of Interstate 10 was completed, most of Old Katy Rd. was consumed in the process.  Only a few signs near the 610 Loop and Hempstead Rd. interchanges mark its presence today, and there is a very small segment of Old Katy Rd. still intact, on the northeast corner of I-10 and State Highway 6.

   In 2002, the railroad right-of-way running just north of I-10 was demolished, and over the next several years, construction began on the widening of the Katy Freeway from its original 6-8 lane configuration to approximately 16 lanes.  The first sections of the completed freeway opened in 2006, and it was finished in 2008, with the addition of the Katy Toll Road in the center of the freeway.  

   Today, the Katy freeway is the widest and most efficient freeway in the Houston Freeway system, and has set the standards for which all future freeway expansions will be done.  

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