From The Brownsville Herald
by Steve Clark
BROWNSVILLE,TX — The quest to create an interstate between the Lower Rio Grande Valley and the rest of Texas reached another milestone on Thursday, when the Texas Transportation Committee gave the Texas Department of Transportation permission to add “Interstate 69” to the state highway system.
As a result, the TxDOT will add the “I-69” designation to a 6.2-mile stretch of U.S. 77 between the I-37 terminus at Corpus Christi and Texas Highway 44 at Robstown in Nueces County, a portion of roadway that already meets interstate standards. Eventually, once the remaining pieces of U.S. 77 are brought up to interstate quality, I-69 designation will extend all the way to Brownsville. A Dec. 5 ceremony in Robstown will coincide with the posting of the first I-69 shields on U.S. 77. The Federal Highway Administration gave TxDOT permission for all of this in August.
Noting that interstate access is “an important driver of economic development activity,” TxDOT Executive Director Phil Wilson said the I-69 effort is particularly important to South Texas communities and businesses. Local business, government and transportation groups have been making the same case for years. U.S. Rep. Blake Farenthold described the development of I-69 as “crucial to the growth and economic development of South Texas.”
Read the entire article at : http://www.themonitor.com/articles/signs-56184-brownsville-december.html
Remember that Laredo gets a spur off this highway (replaces 59 hwy). That will provide even quicker access to the Port of Houston for Laredo.
ReplyDeleteHWY 69 will not dramatically increase trade volumes through Port McAllen.
You sound pretty sure about that and perhaps you're accurate but I dont not think the Laredo politicos should take anything for granted. The recent report that Nuevo Leon is suggesting better routes to San Antonio and points North by going AROUND Laredo is an excellent case in point. The idea that the valley does not stand to gain from this I69 development is not something that the city should assume.
ReplyDeleteMaximiliano