Drive. The highway reunites with US-59 about south of Heavener, reaching its northern terminus. History In Texas, the highway was designated in 1962 and assumed the entire route of a previous iteration and alignment of State Highway 26, which was then cancelled. (The SH 26 designation has since returned, on another roadway elsewhere in the state.) Prior to 1985, US 259 between Kilgore and Longview followed the current route of Texas State Highway 31. It entered Longview from the southwest at the intersection of South Street and Spur 63. It then followed Spur 63 to US 80. US 259 then ran concurrently with US 80 to Eastman Road. At the US 80/Eastman Rd. intersection, the previous alignment of US 259 turned left to go north on Eastman. In 1985, US 259 was rerouted to its current route along Interstate 20 to Eastman Road, then left to go north, along the eastern edge of Longview, bypassing the central business district. Major intersections Special routes Kilgore business route US-259 has one Business route in Texas. In 2006, a new bypass was completed around the eastern side of Kilgore. The bypass had been proposed as early as 1965, but funding did not become available until the late 1990s. The new bypass was designated as US-259, while the previous route through the Kilgore business district was designated as a business route. The new business route was approved by the AASHO in September 2006. Idabel bypass Formerly, US-259 continued into downtown Idabel, and the southeast portion of the Idabel bypass was double-designated as US-70 Bypass and US-259 Bypass. On 6 March 2000, the bypass route was decommissioned, and mainline US-259 was moved onto the bypass. However, , some bypass signage is still in place, including signage indicating the former terminus of Bypass US-259 at US-70/SH-3. SH-259A SH-259A, an Oklahoma state highway, is a loop to Broken Bow Lake and Beavers Bend Resort Park north of Broken Bow, Oklahoma. It lies partially in the Ouachita National Forest and is occasionally signed as a U.S. highway. See also Related routes U.S. Route 59 U.S. Route 159 References External links Endpoints of U.S. Highway 259 59-2 59-2 59-2 2 Transportation in Nacogdoches County, Texas Transportation in Rusk County, Texas Transportation in Gregg County, Texas Transportation in Upshur County, Texas Transportation in Camp County, Texas Transportation in Morris County, Texas Transportation in Bowie County, Texas Transportation in McCurtain County,