State agency shifts Trans Texas route

06/12/2008

By CHRISTINE RAPPLEYE, The Beaumont Enterprise

Shifting the Trans Texas Corridor from the proposed U.S. 69-Interstate 69 route to the existing U.S. 59, a move announced Wednesday, could indirectly open up the region to more growth.

That prediction was made by Marc Shepherd, spokesman for the local Texas Department of Transportation office.

The Trans Texas Corridor is a 650-mile route from the Texas/Mexico border to northeast Texas proposed as a divided roadway for use by cars, trucks, rails and utilities, according to information on the department's Web site.

In addition to U.S. 59, officials plan to use areas along U.S. 77, U.S. 84, U.S. 281 and Texas 44.

The Interstate 69 concept was abandoned after landowners along the proposed path west and north of Houston protested at dozens of public hearings, according to the department.

U.S. 59 hooks into U.S. 69 and U.S. 287 in Lufkin and there are local improvements planned for U.S. 69, Shepherd said.

"Beaumont is the first port you come to," said John Roby, Port of Beaumont's customer service director. He is among those who've monitored the project.

"It's always been a hub and spoke kind of thing," Roby said of Beaumont's position along the corridor.

The corridor also will link up to Southeast Texas by Interstate 10 and the Grand Parkway, now being built around Houston, Shepherd said.

Also Liberty and Chambers counties are steadily growing eastward, he said.

U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady, R-The Woodlands, was one of nine representatives who last week requested the Trans Texas Corridor and the I-69 projects be separated.

Interstate 69 is seen as a 1,600-mile national highway connecting Mexico and Canada, crossing eight states in the United States, according to information from the transportation department.

Brady and the other representatives had requested that the projects be severed to allow the I-69 project to move forward.