Loop 360 is a 13.987 miles (22.51 km) loop route

Loop route

A loop route is a highway or other major road that extends out from a typically longer, more important parents road to enter and circle a large city. A loop can function as a bypass for through traffic and also to service outlying suburbs....

 in Austin

Austin, Texas

Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...

 in the U.S. state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

. Loop 360 is a scenic highway

Highway

A highway is any public road. In American English, the term is common and almost always designates major roads. In British English, the term designates any road open to the public. Any interconnected set of highways can be variously referred to as a "highway system", a "highway network", or a...

 winding through the hills of West Austin. The road is described by the Texas Department of Transportation

Texas Department of Transportation

The Texas Department of Transportation is a governmental agency in the U.S. state of Texas. Its stated mission is to "work cooperatively to provide safe, effective and efficient movement of people and goods" throughout the state...

 (TxDOT) as "a 4-lane depressed median arterial with at-grade signalized intersections." In 2001, the average daily traffic was 55,000 vehicles at the most traveled point. The highway should not be confused with Texas State Highway 360 in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex

Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex

The Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington Metropolitan Statistical Area, a title designated by the U.S. Census as of 2003, encompasses 12 counties within the U.S. state of Texas. The area is divided into two metropolitan divisions: Dallas–Plano–Irving and Fort Worth–Arlington. Residents of the area...

.

History

The south section of Loop 360 from US 290 to RM 2244 was opened on February 11, 1970. The last section of roadway for Loop 360 (excepting the bridge) between RM 2244 and FM 2222 was approved on September 30, 1976. The north and south sections of Loop 360 were connected when the Pennybacker Bridge

Pennybacker Bridge

The Pennybacker Bridge in Austin, Texas bridges Lake Austin to connect north and south Loop 360 highway, also known as the "Capital of Texas Highway." The road is widely considered one of the most scenic urban drives in central Texas, in large part due to this arched weathering steel bridge and...

 was opened for traffic on December 3, 1982. On February 19, 1980 the Travis County

Travis County, Texas

As of 2009, the U.S. census estimates there were 1,026,158 people, 320,766 households, and 183,798 families residing in the county. The population density was 821 people per square mile . There were 335,881 housing units at an average density of 340 per square mile...

 commissioners voted to designate it the "Capital of Texas Highway."

On July 14, 2004, the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization

Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization

The Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization is the federally required Metropolitan Planning Organization responsible for the continuous and comprehensive transportation planning process in the Austin, Texas area, including Williamson, Travis, Hays, Bastrop, and Caldwell counties...

 (CAMPO) changed segments of the future designation to a toll road

Toll road

A toll road is a privately or publicly built road for which a driver pays a toll for use. Structures for which tolls are charged include toll bridges and toll tunnels. Non-toll roads are financed using other sources of revenue, most typically fuel tax or general tax funds...

, despite popular outcry. However, toll conversion of the road is unfunded so plans to toll Loop 360 are delayed indefinitely and there remains substantial opposition to any toll conversion of the road from residents and environmentalists. Also, CAMPO has begun to re-examine the toll roll designation. The road should remain toll-free for at least the near-future. On December 6, 2006, the Mobility Alternatives Finance Study final report commissioned by the City of Austin and other central Texas municipalities noted the poor financial feasibility of toll conversion by stating "Loop 360's toll revenue funds the smallest share of its construction cost (7%)" given a construction cost of $741 million with revenue bonds backed by future tolling of Loop 360 contributing just $51.8 million (in 2006 dollars).

Historical markers

There are three historical markers along Loop 360.

"The Johnson Smokehouse" marker is at the entrance to the Woods of Westlake Heights subdivision, just south of Westbank Drive. The marker commemorates the Johnson Ranch. Charles Johnson, a native of Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

, procurred the original 124 acre (0.5 km²) ranch on the south side of present-day Loop 360 in 1867. The smokehouse

Smokehouse

A smokehouse is a building where meat or fish is cured with smoke. The finished product might be stored in the building, sometimes for a year or more.-History:...

 beside the marker was relocated from the original ranch house site. According to the marker, the smokehouse was painstakingly catalogued, stone by stone, disassembled and restored to its original state." The smokehouse's tin roof is built with tin salvaged from the temporary Texas capitol building that burned down in 1899.

The "Eanes-Marshall Ranch" marker is at the Loop 360 entrance to Saint John Neumann Catholic Church. Alexander Eanes (1806–1888) acquired the property for the ranch by 1857. Alexander later sold the ranch to his brother, Robert Eanes (1805–1895) after the Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

. Robert sold the ranch to his son-in-law, Hudson Boatner Marshall (1862–1951) in 1883. A log cabin built on the ranch was the first Eanes school and the surrounding community assumed the Eanes name.

The "Balcones Fault Aids Colonization of Texas" historical marker is north of Bull Creek on the west side of Loop 360. It commemorates the role that the Balcones Fault

Balcones Fault

The Balcones Fault Zone is a tensional structural system in Texas that runs approximately from the southwest part of the state near Del Rio to the north central region near Waco along Interstate 35. The Balcones Fault zone is made up of many smaller features, including normal faults, grabens, and...

 played in the Anglo-American settlement of Texas.

Route description

The road runs roughly north–south, arcing slightly out to the west. Listing the major intersections going south to north, Loop 360 begins at US 290/SH 71

State Highway 71 (Texas)

State Highway 71 or SH 71 is a Texas state highway that runs . The northern terminus is at US 87 and US 377 south of Brady and its southern terminus is at SH 35 near Blessing. This highway is designated the "10th Mountain Division Highway" from SH 95 to Interstate 35.Through Austin, SH 71 is known...

, then crosses Loop 1

State Highway Loop 1 (Texas)

Loop 1 is a controlled-access highway which provides access to the west side of Austin in the U.S. state of Texas. It is named Mopac Expressway after the Missouri Pacific Railroad...

 (Mopac Expressway), then crosses RM 2244

Ranch to Market Road 2244

Ranch to Market Road 2244 is an state-maintained roadway located in Travis County, Texas. It is simply called 2244 for short as well as Bee Cave Road...

 (a.k.a. Bee Caves Road), then bridges the Colorado River

Colorado River (Texas)

The Colorado River is a river that runs through the U.S. state of Texas; it should not be confused with the much longer Colorado River which flows from Colorado into the Gulf of California....

 at the Pennybacker Bridge

Pennybacker Bridge

The Pennybacker Bridge in Austin, Texas bridges Lake Austin to connect north and south Loop 360 highway, also known as the "Capital of Texas Highway." The road is widely considered one of the most scenic urban drives in central Texas, in large part due to this arched weathering steel bridge and...

, then crosses RM 2222

Ranch to Market Road 2222

Ranch to Market Road 2222 is a state-maintained roadway located in Travis County, Texas.- History :RM 2222 originally terminated at the Austin city limits; it was expanded to its current termination point at Lamar Boulevard in 1957....

, then terminates at US 183. The entire length of Loop 360 is 13.8 miles (22.2 km). An extension of 0.7 miles (1.1 km) that connects the northern end of Loop 360 with Loop 1

State Highway Loop 1 (Texas)

Loop 1 is a controlled-access highway which provides access to the west side of Austin in the U.S. state of Texas. It is named Mopac Expressway after the Missouri Pacific Railroad...

 was once considered part of the Loop but has since been removed from the state highway system.

The road is popular with cyclists because of the road's hills, wide shoulders for biking, and bike access across the Pennyback Bridge. Because of the hilly terrain on the east side of the road, with right timing and clear weather, a traveler on loop 360 in early morning can enjoy multiple sunrise scenes, the most spectacular one can be seen from the Pennybacker Bridge

Pennybacker Bridge

The Pennybacker Bridge in Austin, Texas bridges Lake Austin to connect north and south Loop 360 highway, also known as the "Capital of Texas Highway." The road is widely considered one of the most scenic urban drives in central Texas, in large part due to this arched weathering steel bridge and...

 over Lake Austin

Lake Austin

Lake Austin is a reservoir on the Colorado River in Austin, Texas in the United States. The reservoir was formed in 1939 by the construction of Tom Miller Dam by the Lower Colorado River Authority....

.

The road has rock cut-throughs

Cut (earthmoving)

In civil engineering, a cut or cutting is where soil or rock material from a hill or mountain is cut out to make way for a canal, road or railway line....

 as well as steep fills and has steep roadway grades, 6% to 7% in some areas.

The road cuts through environmentally sensitive watersheds

Drainage basin

A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...

. It bridges Barton Creek just south of Loop 1 and runs along the east side of the Barton Creek Greenbelt

Barton Creek Greenbelt

The Barton Creek Greenbelt, located in Austin, Texas is managed by the City of Austin's Park and Recreation Department and is considered the seventh best hiking trail in Texas.1 The Greenbelt is a stretch of public land that begins at Zilker Park and stretches South/Southwest to the final section...

. Northward, it passes to the west of Wild Basin Wilderness Preserve

Wild Basin Wilderness Preserve

Wild Basin Wilderness Preserve consists of 227 acres of wood west of Austin, Texas. The preserve was founded in 1974. The preserve maintains 2.5 miles of hiking trails.-Location:...

. Just after the Wild Basin entrance, drivers and bikers can pull into a scenic vista and take in a view of downtown Austin including the state capitol building

Texas State Capitol

The Texas State Capitol is located in Austin, Texas, and is the fourth building to be the house of Texas government in Austin. It houses the chambers of the Texas Legislature and the office of the governor of Texas. It was designed originally during 1881 by architect Elijah E. Myers, and was...

 and University of Texas

University of Texas at Austin

The University of Texas at Austin is a state research university located in Austin, Texas, USA, and is the flagship institution of the The University of Texas System. Founded in 1883, its campus is located approximately from the Texas State Capitol in Austin...

 Tower. Further north, Loop 360 crosses the Colorado River and enters the Bull Creek Watershed and crosses Bull Creek.

Land use restrictions along Loop 360 help preserve Loop 360's Hill Country aesthetic.

Junction list

County	Location	Mile	Junction	Notes
Travis Travis County, Texas As of 2009, the U.S. census estimates there were 1,026,158 people, 320,766 households, and 183,798 families residing in the county. The population density was 821 people per square mile . There were 335,881 housing units at an average density of 340 per square mile...	Austin Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...			Southern terminus
				Interchange
				Interchange
				Northern terminus