Lubbock's Needed New Roads: Loop 88 And Two Upgrades

Things are looking up in the Lubbock area. Infrastructure will be coming in the places that badly need it.

One significant development is now certain, but I can think of two east-west side streets that need to stay ahead of the curve. The one certain item is one that's gotten a lot of talk lately. Lubbock will be building their Outer Route (I'd much rather call it The Belt) in the coming years. Steve Warren, head of TXDOT's Lubbock district, has helped come up with a designation for the highway. It's going to be known as State Loop 88. Nice idea, Steve. I'm just glad that they're getting the route selected, and right-of-way will soon be cleared to make way for continuous feeder roads, followed by the freeway mainlanes. And, for the record, it will not be a toll road. What was to have begun in 2020 may now start sooner, and that's only good news for the area, especially in the south. The belt is expected to go from U.S. Highway 84 north of Slaton, mostly along 146th Street, curving northward to follow FM 1585 west of U.S. 87, and then going around old-town Wolfforth to mostly follow FM 179 and Research Boulevard in West Lubbock. The route would then curve eastward and run along Bluefield Street before temporarily terminating at U.S. 84 northwest of the city.

Sounds fine and good, although I disagree with the northern section, as I think it's a little too close to the Loop 289 area, plus consideration needs to be given for a section to eventually be built to Interstate 27 in the north. Surely, they'd better not consider going along Regis. They would be better off taking the route closer to New Deal. Even if there's no development going in in the north at present, that doesn't mean that there won't be any in the future. The Bluefield route needs to suggest a hard northeast about a block east of Frankford. Seriously. I'd rather that this go north of Lubbock-Preston Smith International Airport. You have to think of the "What ifs". By the way, a small section of Bluefield is already underway for construction not far from 84.

And the two side streets that need attention? Well, they are not in South Lubbock. I have faith that the south roads will eventually get an upgrade. What I'd like to see happen, especially when an outer route goes in, is two potentially significant east-to-west roads that could easily serve Northwest Lubbock in the future, especially when roads like Milwaukee and Frankford are getting interchanges off of 84. Slide should follow. And the following should, too.

Kent Street - Five lanes to start off, with the ever-present, continuous turn lane in the middle, beginning at Quaker (which also needs an upgrade north of 84) and running all the way to the future Loop 88 interchange. Hey, why not? It would be variously non-continuous and not-so-wide elsewhere in town, but not in the northwest. Not when there is a chance that developers will eventually look at the area for future growth.

Ursuline Street - Same scenario as the former, except that this road would begin at U.S. 84 and move westward to a possible interchange with Loop 88. This, really, is long overdue, but the potential is endless, and, hopefully, Lubbockites will see that. You've seen what's happened with Erskine, and Ursuline is the next thing north of it. Don't be surprised if you hear rumblings about it within two to three years.

On my next trip to Lubbock, which I hope will be in this next summer, I can't wait to check out the progress, with these, and with other things going on in the city. Good stuff.