Texas State Highway Beltway 8
Texas State Highway Beltway 8 or BW8, also Sam Houston Parkway, is a Texas state highway located in Houston. The Sam Houston Tollway, which follows much of the same route, is run under the auspices of the Harris County Toll Road Authority and is not part of the state highway system.
In transportation terms, Beltway 8 is defined as a beltway or orbital motorway. It is the second of three highway loops circling the city, with Interstate 610 being the inner loop and Texas State Highway 99 (Grand Parkway) being the outer loop. The Grand Parkway is still under construction. Beltway 8 and Sam Houston Parkway are the names given to the frontage roads and a small section of freeway in northern Houston between Interstate 45 and U.S. Highway 59, while the Sam Houston Tollway is the name for the tollway that is located in the highway's median. Access to the Sam Houston Tollway is provided via Beltway 8 by means of entrance and exit ramps. As of 2005, Beltway 8 is complete while the Sam Houston Tollway is about 85 percent complete. The remaining portion is a small section of tollway between U.S. Highway 90 and U.S. Highway 59 northeast of Houston, which should be completed between 2007 and 2009.