The West Houston Archives

US 290, also known as the Northwest Freeway, was originally born into mediocrity, although it has always been my favorite freeway.  This is only because I grew up with it.  Most people who grew up in the days of the making of 290 will tell you a long, drawn out story about the freeway to nowhere that took forty years to complete.   In a nutshell, the Northwest Freeway, originally conceived and submitted for approval to the Texas Transportation Committee in 1953, was given the green light around a year later, after some changes to the original design, but was dragged out over several decades by stalling the project, and then finally piecing the freeway together in random segments.

Originally, when I decided to cover the 290 corridor, I did it as a supplement to coverage of the 290/610 interchange reconstruction.  I focused heavily on the interchange construction as it plowed through the east parking lot of Northwest Mall, but didn't give the entire freeway its proper recognition as an integral part of West Houston.  Now that the Northwest Freeway has become the subject of a massive expansion, I found that I had to approach the coverage of the freeway from a different angle.

Dec 2012a 021.jpg : Intersection of 290 & W. 34th St., facing north along the inbound frontage road, pre-construction.

Mar 2013a 022.jpg : The Unisys building at the corner of 290 & W. Tidwell.

 

Album 22 Pic 28.jpg : Gulf Pacific Rice Mill, formerly Moore Rice Dryer, June 2009.

Further out along 290, the next major intersection is with FM 1960/ SH-6.  Instead of adhering to the Hempstead Rd. alignment, the actual 290 freeway was curved slightly north of Hempstead Rd. to have a brand new intersection with a freeway overpass.  This was done in the early 1980's.  Before that, the 290 frontage roads merged together as a two-lane highway just before the Hempstead intersection.  The new freeway alignment curved around the old intersection, and slowly made its way towards Cypress over the next decade. The intersection with FM 1960 is actually an intersection with two separate road designations.  Everything south of 290 is part of State Highway 6, and everything north of 290 is designated as FM 1960.  State Highway 6 actually rides piggyback alongside 290 West into Bryan, Tx where it meets up with the remainder of Highway 6.  

I first began photographing the 290 and Huffmeister intersection in 2005 when the new North Cypress Medical Center went up.  I had seen signs announcing its arrival, and knew it would be advantageous to get some photos before the new hospital was built.  I didn't even consider the future freeway expansion at the time.  The 290 and Huffmeister intersection was completed in the early 1980's, to the north of the original intersection with Hempstead Rd., which had been there for decades prior.  

Next we have Telge Road, which runs both north and south of 290.  Originally when 290 was just Hempstead Road, Telge ended there.  The extension of Telge south of 290 was not made until 1980.  Near the intersection of Telge on the westbound frontage road is Carl's Barbecue, a restaurant that has been in business since 1954, as well as a VFW post, and a small airport known as Weiser Airpark.  The north half of the 290/Telge intersection is very school oriented.  The northwest corner is home to Cy-Fair High School, which has been standing since around 1940, and Arnold Middle School, which came later.  Across the street on the northeast corner is the CFISD bus maintenance facility/parking lot, a local police station, and the district's FFA rodeo and auction facility.

Album 17 Pic 50.jpg : Traveling eastbound on 290 main lanes passing beneath the Barker-Cypress bridge.

   The intersection of 290 and Skinner is a relatively small exit, situated between Barker-Cypress and Spring-Cypress roads.  In late 2014, the Skinner exit ramp was closed for expansion work on 290.  The only real significance of this intersection is that it was once home to an automobile dealership known most recently as Doug Russell Chevrolet, or Cy-Fair Chevrolet to some.  The dealership closed down (I believe in the early 1990's) but the building remained until 2004.  Prior to that, there was another Chevrolet dealership near the same location known as Kitzman Chevrolet, but I have currently been unable to verify this with any photos or documentation.  This is just what I've been told.  Today, Skinner Rd. is becoming a crowded intersection.  The land where the dealership once stood is now a multi-story modern retail complex.  In December 2015, the eastbound on-ramp from Spring-Cypress was closed for construction, so all the traffic had to get on the freeway before Barker-Cypress, which was quite a way down if you were coming from Fry Rd. or Spring-Cypress.

  

 

Jan 2012a 028.jpg : The entrance to the Houston Premium Outlets up close

I first began photographing the intersections further out on 290 when I learned that they would soon be constructing the Grand Parkway and 290 interchange.  This was in late 2011, and although I knew it was coming, and something I should document, I didn't know exactly where it would be.  By January of 2012, it was now very clear that the parkway would meet 290 just east of Bauer Rd.  Bauer at the time was just another two-lane country road running through the Hockley area and ending at 290.  Later it would become known as the first exit outside the parkway.  Now that I knew where it was, I had a landmark to guide me in my decisions about photo taking.  I had to ask myself, what would people like to see of this area in 30 years time? I just began taking lots of photos and hoping they would pay off in the future. 

Album 22 Pic 58.JPG : Foster's, a place that sells farm equipment, on the Northwest corner of 290 and Roberts Rd. (Katy-Hockley is known as Roberts Rd. north of 290).

So far I don't have a lot of photos covering anything beyond Hockley, but as with all freeways, time will make this area more relevant to construction and progress, and I figured I might as well go ahead and start covering the stretch beyond Hockley.