A New Interstate Could Be Coming to East Texas to Connect Us to the Panhandle

(Palestine, Texas) - Taking a road trip through Texas involves a combination of highways and blacktop roads. The highways can get us where we need to go quickly. The blacktop roads allow us to slow down and check out the surroundings.

Those highways are also crucial for delivering goods to stores all across the state. The more highways we have the better it is for truckers and other delivery couriers to get what we need to us. Plans are in motion right now to convert a major highway in East Texas to an interstate.

A New Interstate Could Be Coming to East Texas

A new study was released by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) that could convert U.S. 287 into an interstate (WFAA). U.S. 287 is 671 miles long and goes from the Texas coast into Montana. A portion of U.S. 287 runs through the southwestern portion of East Texas.

What the conversion wants to do is make it easier to get from Port Arthur to Fort Worth and from Fort Worth to Amarillo. It is believed to bring an additional $11.6 billion to the gross domestic product of Texas. It could also add about 47,000 jobs which is always a good thing.

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A New Interstate in the Works in East Texas

There are a couple of hoops to jump through before this happens. Congress would have to designate U.S. 287 as an interstate first. Once that's done, work could begin to convert the highway to an interstate.

If you want to take the time to read the full study from TxDOT, you can check it out at ftp.dot.state.tx.us.

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