Interstate 35 (I-35) is a major Interstate Highway in the central United States. As with most primary Interstates that end in a five, it is a major cross-country, north–south route. It stretches from Laredo, Texas, near the Mexican border to Duluth, Minnesota, at Minnesota State Highway 61 and 26th Avenue East. The highway splits into I-35E and I-35W in two separate places, the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex in Texas and at the Minnesota twin cities of Minneapolis–Saint Paul.
I-35 starts at this traffic signal in Laredo, Texas
I-35 in Goldsby, Oklahoma, at milemarker 102
A view from the I-35 portion of the Kansas Turnpike, between mileposts 29 and 30
Bond Bridge carries I-35 in Kansas City
Laredo is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and seat of Webb County, on the north bank of the Rio Grande in South Texas, across from Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico. Founded in 1755, Laredo grew from a village to the capital of the short-lived Republic of the Rio Grande to the largest inland port on the Mexican border. Laredo's economy is primarily based on international trade with Mexico, and as a major hub for three areas of transportation: land, rail, and air cargo. The city is on the southern end of I-35, which connects manufacturers in northern Mexico through Interstate 35 as a major route for trade throughout the U.S. It has four international bridges and one railway bridge.
Downtown Laredo
Laredo Center for the Arts in the downtown square
Though the facility has been closed since 1999, the marquee of the Plaza Theater in downtown Laredo has been renovated. A citizens committee, including restaurateur Danny Lopez Jr., of the Danny's Restaurant chain, sought without success to establish a private–public partnership to reopen the Plaza as a live-entertainment venue. In 2018, the city council sought private entities, nonprofit organizations, and an architect to make the facility useful again.
NASA satellite image of Laredo and Nuevo Laredo (2007)