Historic endpoints of US highway 82 in Lubbock TX

Photo credits: Stephen Taylor

In 1934, the US 82 designation was extended west from Texarkana to Lubbock TX; below is a map showing how things looked at that time:

TX DoT, c. 1940

All highways junctioned at the center of town (that's the intersection of Broadway and what was then Avenue "H"). The photo below was taken looking east on Broadway:

Taylor, Dec. 2005

The crossroad is Buddy Holly Avenue (as Avenue "H" has now been renamed). Northbound US 87 was to the right, and to the left was southbound US 87 and eastbound US 84. US 62 and US 82 came to this point together. Westbound US 62 continued ahead, and westbound US 84 went that direction too, but US 82 ended here. Below we're looking the opposite direction:

Taylor, Dec. 2005

That was once westbound US 84 (which turned right on "H") and US 62 (which continued ahead). Also ahead was the west beginning of US 82.

At some point (probably in the 1950's), the four highways began to be rerouted away from Broadway and Av "H":

TX DoT, c. 1954

That shows US 82 coming in with US 62, ending at either Av "A" (US 87), Av "H" (Loop 231), or Av "Q" (US 84). By the time of the map below, the rerouting was complete, and traffic was directed through town using four different bypasses of sorts:

TX DoT, c. 1961

Except for the later addition of I-27, that's pretty much how the highways are still arranged. US 84 uses Avenue "Q" (9 blocks west of "H"), and US 87 uses Avenue "A" (7 blocks east of "H"). US 62 uses 19th Street (a half-mile south of Broadway). By the time of the map above, US 82 was using 4th Street (a half-mile north of Broadway), so the original junction was bypassed in all four directions. US 82 went all the way across town, but then ended at its junction where it rejoined US 62 on the west side (near the Texas Tech University campus). The photo below shows an overview of that intersection:

Taylor, Dec. 2005

That's looking west on 19th, or US 62. To continue west on US 62, the black suv would have to turn left on Brownfield Highway (Michael Bullington informs me this is also known as the "Tech Freeway", and that this junction will soon look very different, with flyover ramps currently under construction). Today that's also westbound US 82, but to the right was once the west beginning of US 82. The shot below is looking the opposite direction (east on 19th):

Taylor, Dec. 2005

That sign is for the benefit of someone travelling east on TX hwy. 114, which continues ahead. Westbound US 62 comes from the right and turns to continue ahead. Westbound US 82 also comes from the right, and continues straight through the intersection to the left... but until 1961, US 82 began to the left.

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