State Highway 87 or SH 87 runs for 249.4 miles (401.4 km) between Galveston, Texas (at a terminus shared with Interstate 45 and Spur 342) to U.S. Highway 59 and U.S. Highway 84 in Timpson, Texas.
Highway 87 has a notable stretch between Sea Rim State Park and High Island, Texas that has been washed out repeatedly over the decades and has been closed continuously since 1990. Portions of this stretch were less than 100 feet (30 m) away from high tide in the 1990s. The storm surge from Hurricane Jerry which made landfall on October 15, 1989, left the highway in a state of disrepair.
While talk about rebuilding the destroyed segment of State Highway 87 happens from time to time (for example, in 1998), there is no serious effort underway to do so.
SH 87 was originally designated in 1926 from Orange to Milam. The route was the previously proposed SH 8A before being renumbered. By 1928, it extended to Port Arthur. By 1933, it extended again, this time to High Island. In 1939, it was extended to its current terminus in Timpson, and replaced the section of SH 124 from High Island to Galveston. In 1970, road machinery used in its construction accidentally dug up several cannonballs and crumbling kegs of black powder about 10 miles west of Sabine Pass. Further excavation eventually produced more kegs of black powder and several hundred cannonballs. The ammunition had been buried there by Confederate soldiers in what were the ditches of Fort Manhassett in 1865. Fort Manhassett was a series of earthworks constructed by the Confederacy in 1863 to defend the western approaches to Sabine Pass.
The following highways are numbered 87:
West Virginia Route 87 is an east–west state highway located in western West Virginia. The western terminus of the route is at West Virginia Route 2 southwest of Mount Alto. The eastern terminus of the route is at West Virginia Route 62 northeast of Evans and 3 miles (5 km) west of Ripley.
State Highway 45 is a highway loop around Austin, Texas, that exists in two open segments. The official designation of SH 45 is such to form a complete loop around Austin, a distance of roughly 80 miles (130 km).
One segment is in southwest Austin and runs roughly southeast from Ranch to Market Road 1826 to the southern terminus of Loop 1 (Mopac Expressway). The roadway is a divided, four-lane facility with a wide median intended to accommodate a future freeway, after which the current lanes would serve as frontage roads.
The other segment is a toll road that forms a backwards C-shape along the boundary of Travis and Williamson County before bending down along the eastern edge of the Austin metropolitan area where it shares its route with SH-130.
Before the 2002 Central Texas Turnpike Project (CTTP), SH 45 existed only as a short section of four-lane, divided highway in southwest Austin. The CTTP added a toll road that runs east from US 183 near Cedar Park, crosses I-35, bi-secting the La Frontera development, and meets SH 130 near Pflugerville. South of this interchange, SH 45 is co-signed with SH 130 to US 183 just south of Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. SH 45 then loops westward rejoining I-35 north of Buda.
State Highway 256 or SH 256 is a state highway that runs from Silverton in northern Texas east to a junction with US 83 near Wellington, close to the Oklahoma border.
SH 256 was first designated in 1938 from Plainview east through Silverton to Memphis. In 1942 the section from Plainview to Silverton was cancelled from the designation. In 1948 the route assumed its current form as the designation was extended east from Memphis to the junction with US 83. The section added was formerly FM 30.
The highway's western terminus is the intersection with SH 207 at Silverton in Briscoe County. SH 256 is known as Lone Star Street in Silverton. The highway is co-routed with SH 86 for a short distance as it runs east. The route then runs past Caprock Canyons State Park and turns toward the northeast, where it junctions with SH 70. After a brief co-routing with SH 70, the highway continues east through Lakeview to a junction with US 287 in Memphis. The highway is known as Noel Street in Memphis. The route then runs east to its final junction with US 83 in Childress County. Counties traversed by the highway include Briscoe, Hall and Childress. Most of the terrain covered by the highway is sparsely populated ranch country.
Beginning at a junction with Business Loop I-20 at Big Spring in Howard County, SH 350 intersects Interstate 20 on the northern edge of the town. The highway is known as Owen Street in Big Spring. SH 350 then runs northeast past Howard County municipal airport to its final junction with US 180 at Snyder in Scurry County, where it is known as College Avenue. The route traverses Howard, Mitchell and Scurry counties. Except for the portions in Big Spring and Snyder, most of the terrain covered by the highway is lightly populated agricultural and oil country. The route has remained essentially unchanged since its original designation in 1943.
Highway 87 is a dangerous place to be
When you pissed off all the local boys
And your back's against the sea
The cops all know your number
Bars all know your name
After six straight months of drinkin' boy,
You're never gonna be the same
And I ain't seen the sunshine
Since I don't remember when
I may not know where I'm goin'
But I sure know where I've been
The sheriff he just watches every move I make
And one of these days he's gonna arrest me
For all the time I take
The local girls all act
Like I just ain't their kind
Paintin' on their precious nails
And losin' their sweet minds
And I've give half of Texas if I could find a friend
I may not know where I'm goin'
But I sure know where I've been
Ahh the coast is disappearing
As they line up on the beach
Doin' all those little things
That Sunday School don't teach
Jim Beam by the fire, Cocaine in the stash
Baseball bat on the floorboard
Shotgun on the dash
And you might lose your mind
Go walkin' round the bend
You may not know where you're goin'