AUSTIN (KXAN) — For those living in Austin, they’re likely well acquainted with MoPac Expressway, a highway corridor running along the western portion of the city and linking State Highway 45’s northern and southern segments. The highway is also known as Loop 1 — but how did it get its MoPac designation?
Back in 1929, officials began discussing the need for a north-south thoroughfare linking west Austin, according to documents from the Texas Department of Transportation. In 1944, the Austin Planning Commission discussed the potential development of a highway using under-utilized right-of-way owned by the Missouri Pacific Railroad, or “MoPac.”
From there, Austin city voters approved bond packages in the 1950s that helped cover the cost of purchasing the needed right-of-way for the project. Come 1966, city officials and Travis County leaders went to the Texas Highway Commission to receive financial assistance to help build the thoroughfare, with a joint agreement made in April 1967.
In October 1967, the Texas Highway Commission formally deemed the project the State Highway Loop No. 1 project. The initial corridor ran from Farm-to-Market 1325 north of Austin down to U.S. Highway 290 southwest of Austin, per TxDOT documents.
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Aerial view of the construction of MoPac Expressway/Loop 1, highlighting the overpass at 35th Street (Courtesy Austin History Center/PICA 02343) -
MoPac Expressway at Lake Austin Boulevard looking north (Courtesy Austin History Center/PICA 12798, Austin Public Library, The Portal to Texas History)
Construction work on Loop 1 between U.S. Highway 183/Research Boulevard and Loop 360/Capital of Texas Highway wrapped in 1982. The northern extension to FM 1325 began in 1986 and finished in 1989, TxDOT documents noted.
In 1986, the Austin Transportation Study (which today is the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization) approved a plan to extend the west Austin highway from U.S. Hwy. 290 down to SH 45, with construction on that segment finalized in 1994.
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