Texas State Highway 288

SH 288 begins in Freeport at the intersection with Farm to Market Road 1495, running concurrent with SH 36. It runs northwesterly along the Nolan Ryan Expressway up to an interchange south of Freeport where it separates from SH 36. It runs north along Brazosport Boulevard and becomes a freeway approaching the west end of SH 332 and SH 288 Business. It runs through Lake Jackson and up to the west side of Angleton, near the Texas Gulf Coast Regional Airport. It then continues north, intersecting SH 6 near Iowa Colony and then enters Harris County, interchanging with the Sam Houston Tollway and then I-610. It enters Houston running next to Interstate 69/U.S. Route 59 before it reaches its northern terminus at Interstate 45. From Freeport to the Harris–Brazoria county line, it is referred to as the Nolan Ryan Expressway, in recognition of Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan who grew up in Alvin, Texas, which is not directly on this road. Brazoria County will be calling the tolled portion of the highway, located within the county, the Brazoria County Expressway.[2]

To help alleviate congestion on SH 288, TxDOT (originally HCTRA) and BCTRA constructed toll lanes (also known as the Brazoria County Expressway) in the median of the existing freeway. The toll lanes currently begin at County Road 58 in Manvel and terminate at I-69/US 59 in Houston for a total length of 15 miles (24.1 km). A nine-mile southern extension to the proposed Grand Parkway (SH 99) is planned. The entire length of the SH 288 toll lanes will have two lanes in each direction. TxDOT has jurisdiction on the portion located in Harris County, beginning at I-69/US 59 and terminate at the Harris–Brazoria county line at Clear Creek located just north of FM 2234 for a total of 10.3 miles (16.6 km).[3] BCTRA will construct the portion located in Brazoria County in two phases. Phase 1 will be from the Harris–Brazoria county line, southward to just south of County Road 58 (Croix Road) for a total of 5 miles (8.0 km)[4] while phase 2, to be built by TxDot's Toll Operations Division, will continue southward to the Grand Parkway (SH 99) for the remaining 10.7 miles (17.2 km). Design work for the entire project began in the summer of 2015.[5] Construction on the toll lanes in Harris County began in November 2016[6] and construction of phase 1 in Brazoria County begun in June 2017.[4][2] The SH 288 toll lanes opened on November 16, 2020 and were free to use until November 30. All tolls on the facility will be collected electronically and an EZ Tag, TxTag, or TollTag is required for passage.[7][8]

State Highway 288 was designated on September 26, 1939 as the renumbering of the portion of State Highway 19 south of downtown Houston. On August 1, 1962, SH 288 was extended to FM 1495. On June 25, 1981, SH 288 was rerouted from I-45 to MacGregor Way in Houston on the new freeway. The original routing ran southward along Almeda Road in Houston. The route traveled southward through Fresno, past the Houston Southwest Airport, before reaching Bonney. This entire portion of the route from US 90 Alt. southward was transferred to Farm to Market Road 521 and Spur 300 on December 14, 1981, as SH 288 was rerouted onto the new freeway from US 90 Alt. to Spur 300.[9] The route then traveled east through downtown Angleton, continuing southeast before reaching Freeport. This original section is now part of County Road 543 and Farm to Market Road 523. SH 288 was redirected southward from Angleton when the city of Clute became more populated, then continued southward to a new intersection with State Highway 36 west of Freeport. On November 18, 1983, SH 288 was rerouted on the new freeway from MacGregor Way to US 90 Alt. The entire remaining section from FM 521 north of Angleton to Clute was transferred first to Texas State Highway 227 on September 26, 1986, and later Business Highway 288 on October 25, 1990 when the bypass around the western side of Lake Jackson opened. The section from Clute south to Freeport was transferred to SH 227, and the section concurrent with SH 36 became SH 36 on February 23, 1989. On August 15, 1989, SH 288 was extended south over part of SH 227 and concurrent with SH 36, restoring the lost section from Clute to Freeport.

All exits are unnumbered.

County	Location	mi[10]	km	Destinations	Notes
Brazoria	Freeport	0.0	0.0	FM 1495 – Port Freeport, Brazos Harbor	Southern termini of SH 288/SH 36; south end of SH 36 overlap
		1.3	2.1	SH 36 north – Jones Creek, West Columbia	Interchange; north end of SH 36 overlap
		3.5	5.6	FM 523 north / Gulf Boulevard – Surfside
	​	5.5	8.9	Frontage Road	South end of freeway; northbound exit and southbound entrance
	Lake Jackson	5.7	9.2	Bus. SH 288-B north / SH 332 east – Clute Business District, Angleton, Surfside	South end of SH 332 overlap
	Lake Jackson–Clute line	6.9	11.1	Main Street / Contractor Road / Copper Road
		7.7	12.4	Dixie Drive
	Lake Jackson	9.0	14.5	Plantation Drive
		10.3	16.6	Oak Drive / Veterans Memorial Parkway / This Way / West Way	Access to Brazosport Memorial Hospital
		11.2	18.0	SH 332 west (Oyster Creek Drive) / Abner Jackson Parkway / This Way	North end of SH 332 overlap
		12.2	19.6	FM 2004 – Richwood
	Angleton	16.7	26.9	County Road 220 – Brazoria Airport
		18.5	29.8	County Road 290	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		19.3	31.1	SH 35 – Angleton, West Columbia, Bay City
		20.8	33.5	County Road 44	Southbound access via FM 523 exit and Frontage Road
		21.5	34.6	FM 523 – Alvin, Angleton	North end of freeway
	​	26.0	41.8	Bus. SH 288 to FM 521 – Rosharon, Angleton	Interchange
	​	32.6	52.5	FM 1462 – Rosharon, Alvin	Interchange
	​			SH 99 Toll (Grand Parkway)	Proposed interchange
	​	38.7	62.3	County Road 56 (Meridiana Parkway)	Interchange
	​	41.1	66.1	County Road 48 – Iowa Colony	Right-in/right-out; no access to or from SH 288 southbound (CR 48 cut off from SH 288)
	Manvel	41.0	66.0	SH 6 – Alvin, Sugar Land	Interchange
		43.5	70.0	Del Bello Boulevard	Interchange; northbound exit and entrance only
		44.4	71.5	County Road 58	South end of freeway; no southbound entrance (closed until October 2023)
		45.0	72.4	SH 288 Toll begins (Brazoria County Expressway)	South end of SH 288 Toll Lanes
	​	45.6	73.4	County Road 101 (Bailey Road / Pomona Parkway)
	Pearland	46.5	74.8	Magnolia Parkway	Formerly Southfork Drive
		47.1	75.8	FM 518 (Broadway Street)	Former FM 3344
				Hughes Ranch Road / Discovery Bay Drive	Access from Toll Lanes only; southbound exit and northbound entrance
Brazoria–Harris county line		48.4	77.9	FM 2234 (Shadow Creek Parkway) / McHard Road
Harris		50.2	80.8	Sam Houston Tollway	Northbound left exit and southbound left entrance
	Pearland–Houston line	50.4	81.1	Beltway 8 (Frontage Road)
				Sam Houston Tollway	Access from Toll Lanes only; southbound right exit and northbound right entrance
	Houston	51.6	83.0	Almeda-Genoa Road
		52.6	84.7	Orem Drive	No northbound entrance (closed until November 2023)
		53.6	86.3	Airport Boulevard
		54.5	87.7	Reed Road
		55.4	89.2	Bellfort Avenue / Holmes Road	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
		55.7	89.6	I-610	I-610 exit 38A westbound, 38A-C eastbound.
		57.0	91.7	Holly Hall Street	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		57.6	92.7	US 90 Alt. (Old Spanish Trail) / Yellowstone Boulevard / Holcombe Boulevard
				Holcombe Boulevard west – Texas Medical Center	Access from Toll Lanes only; northbound right exit and southbound right entrance
		58.5	94.1	South MacGregor Way / North MacGregor Way – Texas Medical Center, Houston Zoo
		58.9	94.8	Binz Street / Calumet Street	Southbound access via Southmore Boulevard exit
				SH 288 Toll south	Southbound exit only
		59.3	95.4	Southmore Boulevard / Blodgett Street
		60.1	96.7	I-69 south / US 59 south – Victoria	I-69 exits 128/129A northbound.
		60.2	96.9	I-69 north / US 59 north / Elgin Avenue / Tuam Avenue – Cleveland	Northbound exit and southbound entrance; I-69 exit 128B
				SH 288 Toll ends (Brazoria County Expressway)	North end of SH 288 Toll Lanes; northbound entrance only
		60.3	97.0	Chenevert Street – Downtown Houston	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
		61.1	98.3	I-45 – Dallas, Galveston, IAH, Hobby Airport	Northern terminus; I-45 exits 46A-B
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Electronic toll collection       Incomplete access       Unopened

SH 288 has one business route.

Business State Highway 288-B (Bus. SH 288) is a bypass of SH 288 through Angleton, Richwood and Clute. The route was created in 1987 as SH 227, which was redesignated as Business SH 288-B on October 25, 1990.[12][11]

Major junctions

The entire route is in Brazoria County.

Location	mi[13]	km	Destinations	Notes
Lake Jackson	0.00	0.00	SH 288 south	Southern terminus
Clute			SH 322 east – Surfside	Interchange
			SH 322 west / SH 288 north – Lake Jackson	Interchange; southbound exit and northbound entrance
	1.5	2.4	Whitten Street	Partial interchange via northbound exit ramp and connector road southbound; no northbound entrance
	1.6	2.6	Wilson Road / Leder Street / Mockingbird Street	Partial interchange via northbound entrance ramp and connector road southbound; no northbound exit
Richwood	5.5	8.9	FM 2004 – Santa Fe
Angleton	11.2– 11.4	18.0– 18.3	Loop 274 north	Interchange; southern terminus of Loop 274; northbound left exit and southbound left entrance; serves as a bypass of downtown Angleton
	11.8	19.0	SH 35 – Bay City, Alvin
	12.6	20.3	Loop 274 south	Northern terminus of Loop 274
	14.4	23.2	FM 523 / SH 35 Byp.
​	18.6	29.9	SH 288 – Houston, Lake Jackson	Interchange
​	20.3	32.7	FM 521 – Houston, Brazoria	Northern terminus
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Incomplete access

1. TxDOT - Toll Operations Division