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Interstate 610 in Texas

Interstate 610 marker

Interstate 610
Route information
Maintained by TxDOT
Length: 38 mi (61 km)
Existed: 1975 – present
Major junctions
Beltway around Houston
  I-10
US 90
I-69 / US 59
I-45
US 290
SH 288
SH 225
Highway system
I-410 I-635

Interstate 610 marker

Interstate 610 (abbreviated I-610) is a freeway that forms a 38-mile-long (61 km) loop around the downtown sector of city of Houston, Texas. Interstate 610, colloquially known as The Loop, Loop 610, The Inner Loop, or just 610, traditionally marks the border between the inner city of Houston ("inside the Loop") and its surrounding areas. It is the inner of the three Houston beltways, the other two being Beltway 8 (Sam Houston Tollway) and State Highway 99 (Grand Parkway), of which various segments are under construction or planning. It is one of four interstate loops not to share its route with another interstate freeway, the others being I-270, I-295, and I-485.

In Houston the area inside the 610 Loop is the urban core. Jeff Balke of the Houston Press wrote that the freeway "is as much a social and philosophical divide as a physical one."

Major segments of Interstate 610 are known as the North Loop, the South Loop, the East Loop, and the West Loop. The North Loop runs from U.S. Highway 290 to U.S. Highway 90. The East Loop runs from Highway 90 to State Highway 225. The West Loop runs from Highway 290 to the South Post Oak Road spur, and the South Loop runs from South Post Oak Road to Highway 225. Sometimes, a direction name is added as a suffix to denote a more specific part of a portion of the loop and this does not denote the direction of traffic flow. For example:


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Wikipedia

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