Explore Austin - The Greater Austin Community Guide

Transportation Overview

Major Roadways and Highways Austin sits at the crossroads of two major highways: Interstate 35 (I-35) and U.S. Highway 290 (U.S. 290) . In downtown Austin, streets running north to south follow the order of rivers in Texas and are named after those rivers. Streets running east to west are numbered. The higher the number of the street that you are on, the further north you are in the city. Interstate-35 runs right through the middle of the city, heading south to San Antonio and on to the Mexican border, and north to Waco and Dallas-Fort Worth. U.S. Highway 290 runs from

Houston westward to the northeast section of Austin where it is called U.S. 290 East (U.S. 290 E). It merges with I-35, emerging again in southern Austin as U.S. 290 West (U.S. 290 W), and then is called Ben White Boulevard. Texas Highway 71 merges with U.S. 290 W at I-35 through the southern and southwestern section of the city, separating at what most call the "Y" in Oak Hill. At the “Y,” U.S. 290 W continues heading west to Johnson City, while Texas Highway 71 heads northwest to Bee Cave and the Highland Lakes.

U.S. Highway 183 runs diagonally through the city from northwest to southeast leaving the area near the Austin Bergstrom International Airport. The MoPac Expressway (Loop 1) runs north-south through the western part of Austin. Although it is referred to on all road signs as Loop 1, most simply call it MoPac. Capital of Texas Highway (Loop 360) runs north-south through the far western part of Austin, forming a loop around the city. Businesses along this roadway use Capital of Texas Highway in their addresses, but typically it is called Loop 360. R.M. 620 is a primarily north-south road that swings around Austin in the Hill Country west of Lake Austin and east of Lake Travis. Austinites typically refer to it as “ 620 ;” the designation R.M. means Ranch-to-Market road, a leftover from the days when the state built highways so that farmers and ranchers could bring their goods and cattle to town. Some roads are called R.M., while others are F.M. (Farm-to-Market).

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Explore Austin – The Greater Austin Metro Area Guide