End of US highway 57

View a map showing this route.

Photo credits: Stephen Taylor
Additional research: Alex Nitzman

Approx. time period North terminus South terminus
1970-present (near Moore, TX) Eagle Pass, TX

I have to begin by saying that Texas has a few oddball intra-state US routes. US 57 is one of them. Even though it clearly runs east/west, it has a north/south number, and it is signed north/south, too. On the other hand, US 96 is about as north/south as they come, but it has an east/west number. The universe would be much more harmonious if we could switch the numbers on these two routes. In fact, if those two numbers were reversed, they'd fit so perfectly into the "grand design" of the US route numbering system that one has to wonder whether some kind of mistake was made, in which the two route numbers were accidentally switched and assigned to the wrong highways. But historic maps show that US 96 had been around for years before US 57 was commissioned. According to Robert Droz' pages, in 1970 US 57 replaced what had been TX hwy. 57, which connects with Mexico highway 57 in Piedras Negras, Coahuila. Hwy. 57 is a pretty major route through Mexico, going all the way down to Mexico City - so maybe that's why TX 57 was deemed worthy of an "upgrade" to US route status. And it helps to explain why US 57 is signed north/south. And actually, the number "57" does make a little sense when viewed in context with nearby US 59; the map linked above shows both routes.

Anyway, the "north" end of US 57 is at its junction with I-35, about 3 miles south of Moore TX. The photo below is from southbound I-35:

Taylor, 2002

(As of Oct. 2007, Alex reports that sign has been replaced with one identical in form and content, except for the new Clearview font.) Below is an overview of the interchange from the I-35 overpass; we're looking west along the "north" beginning of US 57:

Taylor, 2002

Traffic from southbound I-35 comes in from the right. Just past the Yield sign is the first southbound US 57 sign, shown close-up below:

Taylor, 2002

Looking the opposite direction, the last northbound sign is just shy of the interchange:

Taylor, 2002

That "North" tab should be replaced with an "End" tab.

The "south" end of US 57 is at the Mexico border crossing in Eagle Pass TX. There was no "End" sign, but the shot below is looking west at the "south" terminus:

Taylor, 2000

The next photo shows the first "northbound" sign, heading east on Garrison Street:

Taylor, 2000