NOLA.com: A new interstate across Louisiana could save small towns. But it will take years to build.

Could a new road help save a region?

Painted across the back wall in Brooks Drugs in the tiny Louisiana outpost of Jonesville is the word “Prescriptions” in large white letters against a blue background.

It’s there, at the broad back counter, that pharmacist Angie Parish and her staff chat with the steady stream of customers that come through the glass doors on a recent Monday morning. The atmosphere is friendly, and the store, with its wide aisles and varied inventory, can seem like something out of a vibrant, small-town past.

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TxDOT hosting several open house meetings to talk about their plans for I-14 roadway

HUNTSVILLE, Texas — The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) in Bryan is looking into a future I-14 Central Texas Corridor from Bell County to Walker County. 

TxDOT is studying the practicality of a possible route for a roadway from Rogers Texas to Huntsville Texas. One part of the study is to determine how the new route will meet interstate standards. The study will also include an evaluation of the more recently designated future Loop I-214 around Bryan College Station. I-214 is expected to co-align with I-14 as it passes near the Bryan College Station area.

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The Uncertain Future Of Texas's $50+ Billion Superhighway (Interstate 14)

The interstate system was created in 1956. From there a map of routes extended across the country was created and constructed. Some of these highways were completed immediately after, with some taking multiple decades to be built. After the original interstate system was finally completed though, highways continued to be built to interstate standards and passed into the system. To this day there are planned interstate routes and ones currently under construction. One of these highways is Interstate 14, a highway that is currently just 25 miles long, so today we’re going to talk about the history of the highway but especially the future plan to extend it across the country.

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Efforts underway to establish I-14 in Columbus, connecting west TX to GA

Efforts are underway to establish a new interstate that would run through Columbus and connect parts of west Texas to Georgia.

According to Frank Lumpkin, the possible interstate connects forts, ports, major cities, and other highways.

In 2017, the first stretch of Interstate 14 was built from US 190 in Killeen, Texas near Fort Hood connecting it to Interstate 35.

Lumpkin is asking city council to send a letter to the Georgia Department of Transportation requesting they petition the Federal Highway Association to open Interstate 14 in Columbus.

“The petition to the Federal Highways Administration has come from the Department of Transportation but if Columbus wants this they need to be the body asking the Dept. of Transportation to open this segment up,” said Lumpkin.

The council has agreed to look into the project and collect data.

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Why Atlanta Needs Interstate 14: A Game-changer for the Southeast

How Interstate 14 will transform Atlanta and Georgia for the better 🚗🚛🚀

Have you heard of Interstate 14? It's a new highway that will connect five states in the South, from Texas to Georgia. It will also link major military bases and ports along the Gulf and Atlantic coasts.

The project has been approved by Congress and President Biden as part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021. One behind the movement is Frank Lumpkin IV, the president and Georgia representative for the Youth Infrastructure Coalition.

But why should you care about a highway that does not directly pass through Atlanta? 🤔

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Why Atlanta should pull for Interstate 14 to be built

You may not have heard of Interstate 14 until now, and even if you have, you may disregard I-14 as unimportant because its future routing would cut through the middle of Georgia, roughly an hour south of Atlanta.  

Congressionally designated in 2022 and partly built in Texas, plans for I-14 in Georgia call for upgrades to the Fall Line Freeway from Columbus to Augusta, making it the Peach State’s first new interstate since the 1960s. (For a quick I-14 primer, check out this video). But I posit that I-14 is equally—if not more—important to the Atlanta metropolitan area as it is to middle Georgia.

On average, Atlantans lose $1,900, or 56 hours, in productivity per year from sitting in traffic congestion. Over the past 60 years, the Georgia Department of Transportation has added lanes to I-85, I-75, I-20, and I-285 as a supposed solution to Atlanta's traffic woes.

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Citizens hear about possible I-14 routes as part of UA study on highway’s impact in Dallas County

A good crowd gathered in the Selma Dallas County Public Library Vaughan room to learn about a study of proposed Interstate 14 routes that would bring the highway through Dallas County and perhaps through Selma.

The study is being conducted by University of Alabama graduate student Jack Spalding under the direction of Dr. Kevin M. Curtin, professor of geography and director of the Laboratory for Location Science. They are trying to determine how the proposed routes of I-14 would impact the people and the environment of Dallas County.

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Black Belt News: UA graduate student to give presentation about routing of I-14 at Selma-Dallas County Library

The proposed Interstate 14 has the potential to be a good thing for the Black Belt. If it’s done right.

University of Alabama graduate student Jack Spalding is studying the socio-economic and ecological impacts of the proposed Interstate 14 on Selma and Dallas County. He will give a presentation on the proposed Interstate 14 on March 25 at 10:30 a.m. in the Vaughan Room of the Selma-Dallas County Public Library. Everyone’s invited.

“The history of interstates being built in the past in Montgomery, Birmingham, et cetera, have not always had the interest of minorities or folks of lower income in mind,” Spalding said. “Everybody has a chance to gain or lose as a result” of Interstate 14.

The concept of a major highway running parallel to and between Interstate 10 and Interstate 20 from Georgia to Texas has been considered for decades, according to Spalding.

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