The 1952 City of Houston planning document recommended a second loop designated the Outer Belt.

In 1978, the Texas Turnpike Authority performed a study showing the project as feasible, and sold $102M (approximately $333.1M in 2008[4]) of bonds to fund it.

[6] Traffic volume increased, but not sufficiently to cover the 1985 junk bonds.

In 1994, Harris County took over the bridge for the consideration of TxDOT contributing money toward further area highway construction.

In 2018, construction began on a twin-span cable-stayed bridge to replace the existing one.

The replacement bridges was initially designed by Figg Engineering Group and the contractor for the project is Ship Channel Constructors, a joint venture between Traylor Brothers Inc. and Zachry Construction Corp.[7] When completed, each bridge will carry 4 lanes of one-way traffic.