Spur 527 Is Also Called The Southwest Freeway?

[DaTrain]

I was driving down the frontage road of Spur 527 (which eventually becomes Travis Street) a few days and I noticed the Midtown-style street signs say Southwest Freeway (or simply "Southwest" by Midtown street standards). And at the intersection with Richmond Avenue and at the West Alabama intersections where 527 crosses over the signs say "US 59" on the traffic signal poles. WHAT??! I thought all of 59 below 288 and 45 was supposed to be called the Southwest Freeway even w/o the frontage roads in Midtown while Spur 527 was simply called the Downtown Split. I swear this is the most ignorant sets of sign goofs I have seen.

[ssullivan]

It's not a goof, and the City of Houston street signs along the Spur said "Southwest Freeway" for decades before Midtown was called "Midtown." The original Southwest Freeway started where the Spur now ends, and it wasn't until the mid-1970s that the elevated section of 59 between the Spur and the 288 interchange was completed.

[Subdude]

There was a brief attempt to rename the Southwest Freeway the Bentsen Freeway, but thankfully it didn't take.

[JLWM8609]

There was a brief attempt to rename the Southwest Freeway the Bentsen Freeway, but thankfully it didn't take.

Technically, it is the Lloyd Bentsen Highway, though that is not reflected on the feeder road signs. US 59 was designated the Lloyd Bentsen Highway from I-45 to I-35 in Laredo in 1995.

But since we're talking about goofs along Spur 527, the TxDOT posted feeder road street signs on the traffic light posts incorrectly state the roadway is designated US 59 instead of Spur 527. It's been two, almost three years and they haven't fixed that.