Farm to Market Road 1719 explained

State:TX
Maint:TxDOT
Type:FM
Route:1719
Length Mi:10.0
Length Round:1
Map Custom:yes
Established:1951
Direction A:South
Direction B:North
Terminus A: in Amarillo
Junction:
    Counties:Potter
    Previous Type:FM
    Previous Route:1718
    Next Type:FM
    Next Route:1720

    Farm to Market Road 1719 (FM 1719) is a farm to market road in the Amarillo metropolitan area of the Texas Panhandle.

    Route description

    FM 1719 begins at BL I-40 (Amarillo Boulevard) and travels northward along Western Street. Along this segment, the roadway is four-laned with a center turn lane until the intersection at NW 24th Avenue. After leaving the city limits, the route intersects Loop 335 and becomes a two-lane roadway. It continues northward before turning to the east along Givens Avenue. The route intersects FM 2176 before ending at the US 87/US 287 freeway.

    History

    A previous route numbered FM 1719 was designated in Kendall County on May 23, 1951, from US 87 to the Bandera County line. That route was cancelled on July 18, 1951, becoming part of RM 475 (later SH 46).

    The current FM 1719 was also designated on May 23, 1951. Given that two roads were designated FM 1719 that day, it is likely that one of them was supposed to be numbered FM 819. FM 1719 ran approximately 5.8miles from the then-proposed US 66 (the present-day I-40 business route) to the north before doglegging eastward to what was then US 87. When US 87 (and then US 287) were rerouted to the new Dumas Highway on June 21, 1977, the segment of FM 1719 from the new freeway to the old alignment (now designated Loop 434) was transferred to Loop 335, which had been designated around the southern and western sides of Amarillo that year. When Loop 335 became a full loop on April 18, 1985, the dogleg eastward was transferred to that route, reducing the mileage of FM 1719 to approximately 2.9miles.

    On June 27, 1995, TxDOT internally redesignated FM 1719 as Urban Road 1719 (UR 1719). The designation reverted to FM 1719 with the elimination of the Urban Road system on November 15, 2018.[1]

    In 1999, the Texas Transportation Commission allocated $3.9 million for the addition of shoulders to Western Street north of Loop 335, with the goal of adding that segment to FM 1719.[2] The route reached its current length on March 31, 2005, when that northward extension and an eastward segment (which usurped a segment of FM 2176) were added, once again connecting FM 1719 with the Dumas Highway. The improvements related to this extension were completed in 2008 at a cost of approximately $360,000.[3]

    Notes and References

    1. Web site: Minute Order 115371. Texas Transportation Commission. November 15, 2018. June 19, 2022.
    2. News: U.S. 87 to be widened to four lanes. Robbins. Mary Alice. Amarillo Globe-News via Morris News Service. October 1, 1999. October 28, 2012.
    3. News: Road bill grows by $8,000. Thomas. Sean. Amarillo Globe-News. May 1, 2007. November 25, 2012.