I-610

About I-610

Also known as The Loop, Loop 610.

Interstate 610 is a three-digit auxiliary route of Interstate 10, with an even prefix digit marking it as a loop or bypass. The number is used in two Gulf Coast cities. The best known is in Houston, Texas, where Interstate 610 is a complete loop of about 38 miles around the inner part of the city. Known locally as The Loop, Loop 610, or simply 610, it traditionally marks the boundary between the inner city, said to be inside the Loop, and the surrounding areas.

In Louisiana, Interstate 610 is a short route of under five miles lying almost entirely within the city limits of New Orleans. It branches from Interstate 10 and runs north of Mid-City, downtown, and the French Quarter, providing a more direct bypass for through traffic while Interstate 10 itself takes a longer arc through the city. The New Orleans route rejoins Interstate 10 at both ends.

Both instances function as inner bypasses or loops serving their metropolitan cores, consistent with the even prefix digit.

History

A bypass loop around Houston was first proposed in the 1930s and 1940s, and the route was adopted into the Interstate plan after 1956. The East Loop opened with the Sidney Sherman Bridge over the Houston Ship Channel in 1973, and the loop was completed in 1976. The New Orleans route was planned in the 1950s and built in stages from the early 1960s, with construction delayed by litigation over use of parkland in City Park before it was completed in the late 1970s.

Major cities and places

Notable features

• Sidney Sherman Bridge over the Houston Ship Channel

Did you know

• The Houston route is a complete loop of about 38 miles known as The Loop.
• Inside the Loop is a common way to describe Houston's inner city.
• The New Orleans route is a short bypass north of the French Quarter.
• The Houston loop was completed in 1976.