Loop 1604

Hello there, I'm Loop 1604. Even though I'm just a loop I can be just as fun as an Interstate Highway. Let me tell you a little bit about myself. I was named after former Bexar County Judge Charles W. Anderson who died from cancer in 1964 after serving for 25 years on the bench. I was assembled from a number of Farm-to-Market and State Loop roads in the early '60s and holds the distinction as the only four-digit non-FM road in Texas. One of the FM roads that was included FM 1604, and segments of other roads added to me were renumbered as FM 1604. However, when I was complete and state officials were ready to change the designation to a Loop, they found that the 1604 number had become familiar to area residents. So in 1977 they simply changed the route designation to Loop 1604. (FM 1604 has since been recycled and is in use in Irene, Texas, east of Hillsboro.) The expansion of the northern portion of 1604 into a four-lane freeway began in the late 1980s. The segments from Interstate 10 to Babcock Road and from Interstate 35 to FM 78 were upgraded in the early 1990s. Access roads between Northwest Military Highway and Bitters Road were added last summer. Long-range proposals on the table for 1604 include expanding it from four to six lanes between I-35 North and I-10 West and constructing a five-level interchange at U.S. Highway 281 North. I just keep growing and growing.Future plans for myself include: To upgrade myself to a four lane freeway as far south as US 90 on both ends. In 1999, the section from Bandera Rd. to just north of Culebra was upgraded from a two lane rural-type road to a four lane divided highway. This project was designed to allow for quick conversion to a freeway in the future. Work is now underway to expand to a four-lane divided highway from Culebra south to US 90, and an overpass at Culebra was completed in 2004. There are now conceptual plans to expand myself to a four-lane divided highway along its southern half and to upgrade all of its interchanges with other freeways. There is also a plan listed to expand myself from four to six lanes between I-35 North and I-10 West and TxDOT was in the early stages of planning a five-level interchange at US 281 North. Recently, however, a plan was announced to add four toll lanes to the median of 1604 between I-10 and I-35, as well as a tolled interchange with 281 and new toll ramps in the I-10 interchange.