Farm to Market Road 359 explained

State:TX
Type:FM
Route:359
Maint:TxDOT
Length Mi:46.2
Map Custom:yes
Direction A:South
Direction B:North
Terminus A: east of Richmond
Junction:
Terminus B: at Hempstead
Counties:Fort Bend, Waller
Previous Type:FM
Previous Route:358
Next Type:FM
Next Route:360

Farm to Market Road 359 (FM 359) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Texas. The highway begins at U.S. Route 90 Alternate (US 90 Alt.) near Richmond in Fort Bend County. FM 359 heads in a northwesterly direction through Pecan Grove and Fulshear to Interstate 10 at Brookshire in Waller County. Continuing to the northwest, the highway passes through the small communities of Pattison, Monaville and Pine Island before ending at U.S. Route 290 (US 290) and Texas Highway 6 (SH 6) east of Hempstead.

Route description

FM 359 begins at a traffic signal on US 90 Alt. 1.2miles northeast of the Brazos River bridge at Richmond. The highway immediately crosses the Union Pacific Railroad tracks and heads 2.2miles north through Pecan Grove. At the traffic light at Farmer Road, FM 359 turns in a westerly direction for 4.2miles to a traffic signal at FM 723. This intersection is just north of John and Randolph Foster High School in Lamar Consolidated Independent School District. After proceeding northwest, FM 359 passes through the rural community of Foster and turns in a northerly direction. The highway passes Hines Nurseries Inc., briefly veers west at Fulshear-Gaston Road, and turns north before reaching the intersection of FM 1093 and FM 1463 at a traffic signal. The section between FM 723 and FM 1093 is about 5.4miles in length.

FM 359 turns west for 3.3miles to Fulshear. In this stretch, the highway shares its right-of-way with FM 1093. At Fulshear, FM 359 heads northwest a distance of 7miles to Interstate 10 at Brookshire. In this portion of the highway, there is an historical marker at the site of Pittsville near Hunt Road, 2.8miles north of Fulshear. The highway continues north 0.5miles from the interstate underpass to US 90, then turns west on the US 90 right-of-way for 0.35miles to Bains Street where FM 359 turns to the north again. After 0.15miles on Bains Street, there is a fork where FM 362 splits off to the north while FM 359 heads to the northwest. The highway continues 3.5miles northwest to Pattison where it intersects with westbound FM 1458. From Pattison, FM 359 heads first north, then northwest a distance of 6.6miles to the intersection with FM 529 and then an additional 2.5miles to Monaville where it intersects with FM 1887 which goes west. From Monaville to the intersection with westbound FM 3346 in Pine Island is a distance of 7.3miles. Continuing north on FM 359 from Pine Island to US 290 Business is 2miles. After an additional 1.2miles, FM 359 ends at a limited access highway interchange with US 290 and SH 6 to the east of Hempstead.

History

FM 359 was originally designated on June 18, 1945, to run from 1miles east of Richmond northwest to the Waller County line and from Richmond south to Thompsons. On the same day, the order was amended to extend the highway northwest through Brookshire to SH 6 southeast of Hempstead. On September 26, 1945, FM 359 was extended west to US 290 near Hempstead. On August 1, 1947 the section from Richmond south to Thompsons was canceled. (The canceled section is the 2010 route of FM 762 and FM 2759.) On December 15, 1982 the highway was extended north about 1miles from the old US 290 to the new US 290 right-of-way.