San Antonio Area Roads History
Historical
I-10/US 90 East Photos |
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This page last updated November 4, 2021 |
Below
are historical photos of Interstate 10 East. These
photos are courtesy of the San Antonio
TxDOT district office.
Locations are given using the present-day roadway names. The
photos are generally arranged from west to east. Click on
each photo for an enlarged view.
Click
here
to return to the historical photo galleries page.
Route
history
The
stretch of today's I-10 east of Commerce St. was first built in 1932 as
a two-lane highway to replace the previous route to Seguin via today's
FM 78. The city's early expressway plans called for it to be
upgraded to an expressway that connected to today's I-35 near
AT&T Center Parkway. However, in the early '50s, that was
dropped and a few different proposals to route it through the East Side
were proposed until the final route was settled around 1959.
That
same year, the first section to be upgraded to a freeway was completed
from just inside today's Loop 410 to near FM 1516. The segment from
there to the county line was upgraded in 1962, and the first rest area
on an Interstate Highway opened near FM 1518 the following year. In
1964, the section from Commerce St. east to Loop 410 was completed
along with the Loop 410 cloverleaf. 1967 saw the opening of the section
between I-35 and I37, and finally in 1968 the remainder of the route
from I-37 to Commerce St. opened.
More
details on the history of I-10 is here.

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I-10 at New Braunfels Ave. looking northeast (ca. 1967)
(TxDOT)
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I-10 at WW White Rd. looking north (ca. 1962)
Today's I-10 is where the the road running left to right in the
foreground is which, at the time, was US 90. You can see I-35 curving
from west to north in the distance.
(TxDOT)
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I-10 near WW White Rd. looking northwest (ca. 1962)
(TxDOT)
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I-10 near WW White Rd. looking north (ca. 1962)
Notice the truncated section of freeway at the very right.
(TxDOT)
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I-10 at Loop 410 looking southwest (ca. 1962)
Notice the end of the freeway in the foreground.
(TxDOT)
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I-10 at Loop 410 looking southwest (ca. 1965)
This was just after the interchange was completed. Notice in the distance that the freeway ends and merges onto Commerce St.
(TxDOT)
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I-10 at rest area near FM 1518 looking west (ca. 1965)
This was the first Interstate rest area to open in Texas. It was removed sometime around 2006.
(TxDOT)
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Click
here
to return to the historical photo galleries page.
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