Alliance for I-69 Texas gives update

During the Atlanta City Commissioners meeting on December 16, Alliance for I-69 Texas gave an update to the Council, followed by a discussion on the City of Atlanta’s involvement and annual support of the Alliance for I-69 Texas.

For many years the City of Atlanta has contributed a small amount/share to the Alliance for I-69 Texas, which recently included $1,150 for their 2020 dues. The city had noted that It has been quite some time since the Council received any type of report, so the staff thought this would be a good time to reach out and find out what were things were in the I-69 project.

For those unaware, in Texas I-69 starts at the southern valley border at both McAllen and Brownsville, merging into one roadway all the way through Houston and north to Tenaha. At Tenaha, I-69 proceeds to Louisiana, but I-369 spur continues north all the way through Marshall, Atlanta, and Texarkana.

One can drive on parts of I-369 today in Texarkana. With I-369, I-49, I-30 all connecting into Texarkana, that area will experience significant growth which the City Leader’s think will greatly benefit Atlanta.

On December 2, City Manager David Cockrell was mailed a letter from Sydney Murphy, County Judge and Chairman for the Alliance for I-69 Texas. In the report/ letter, Murphy highlighted that the work that has been paid into the project has paid dividends, reports Murphy. Among them is working to identify projects of inclusion the United Transportation Program (UTP), seeing a record funding for i-69 projects which included 5.7 billion across 64 projects across the I-69 system, up from 45 projects totaling 3.4 billion in 2019.

Murphy says that their organization plays an active role in supporting state and federal legislation to increase overall funding for transportation. In 2019 the I-69 Alliance reported that it was the driving force behind the effort to get Prop 1 funding, extending funding through 2034, which they say will bring an estimated 1.4 billion annually for transportation projects like I-69.