Welcome To Case's Column
Let me say a big welcome to all of you for joining me here. I'm going to call these blog meetings Case's Column. I wanted to use "Corner", but that was already taken.
Since 2008, it's been a real privilege to come on here and share some of my life with you, and it's a big world where we live.
In these blogs, I'll just speak whatever is on my mind, but we will be playing within the rules here. I may pick a particular topic, point out an event, or shoot the breeze. I'm a little bit of an essayist at times, so I'll just speak what's on my mind, and I might tell a story or two. Or, I might spew out an opinion or three. There will be some serious moments, some tender, some poignant, but there will also be those moments that you'll just bust out laughing. But, hopefully, everything will be in good fun here. And, of course, there's a place below for your comments and thoughts as we go along here. So feel free to join me for the ride -- I sure as heck hope I'm doing this right and not making any mistakes.
Thanks for taking your time in reading Case's Column. Hopefully, you'll enjoy being entertained by it as much as I've enjoyed putting these writings together. And thanks for the time you spend in City-Data.com, where it's great to be alive!
Regards,
case44
Let me say a big welcome to all of you for joining me here. I'm going to call these blog meetings Case's Column. I wanted to use "Corner", but that was already taken.
Since 2008, it's been a real privilege to come on here and share some of my life with you, and it's a big world where we live.In these blogs, I'll just speak whatever is on my mind, but we will be playing within the rules here. I may pick a particular topic, point out an event, or shoot the breeze. I'm a little bit of an essayist at times, so I'll just speak what's on my mind, and I might tell a story or two. Or, I might spew out an opinion or three. There will be some serious moments, some tender, some poignant, but there will also be those moments that you'll just bust out laughing. But, hopefully, everything will be in good fun here. And, of course, there's a place below for your comments and thoughts as we go along here. So feel free to join me for the ride -- I sure as heck hope I'm doing this right and not making any mistakes.
Thanks for taking your time in reading Case's Column. Hopefully, you'll enjoy being entertained by it as much as I've enjoyed putting these writings together. And thanks for the time you spend in City-Data.com, where it's great to be alive!
Regards,
case44
New Interstate Makes Lone Star Inroads
Posted 12-08-2011 at 02:37 PM by case44
It finally came. For about 20 years, Texans have been waiting and wondering when the next interstate highway would arrive and what it would be. The day finally came, all right. This past Monday, to be exact.
After years of talk and planning, Interstate 69 has made its way into Texas. The first stretch to get the ribbon-cutting consists of six and a half miles of freeway concrete from Robstown and State Highway 44 up to Interstate 37 northwest of Corpus Christi. Eventually, one thousand miles covering four components of Interstate 69 in Texas will be constructed and opened to the public as a genuine interstate highway. The main road will be from Laredo through Victoria and Houston, into East Texas and to the Sabine River east of the town of Joaquin before entering Louisiana. It is expected to ultimately connect with Shreveport, and then traverse to El Dorado, AR, Memphis, TN, and through Kentucky as it winds up at its current southern terminus in Indianapolis, IN, before going into Michigan and Canada. The other Texas components are legs off of Interstate 69: I-69E from Brownsville to Victoria, I-69C from McAllen to George West at I-69, and an unnamed stretch of highway along U.S. 59 from near Carthage to Texarkana. It's possible that that designation could get I-69N, but it's not confirmed yet. The aforementioned stretch by Robstown will eventually be changed to I-69E when that stretch reaches completion, along with the other components.
Basically, to get I-69 complete, they are upgrading divided highway sections of U.S. Highways 281, 84, 59, and 77 to interstate freeway standards. Some sections of highway will have bypasses that will be newly built. Some freeway portions have been finished for a few years, most notably the recently-rebuilt U.S. 59 freeway through Houston. Next year, that stretch will be receiving the new I-69 signage. Seaports and cities on or near the route will be better served and more truck traffic is anticipated; thus, the need for this highway.
I-69 Sign Installed Along US 77 - KiiiTV3.com South Texas, Corpus Christi, Coastal Bend
Yep, this is going to be a monumental event with this new interstate going in in the years ahead, and one that I'll certainly clinch on some road trip someday.
Stay tuned. There will be more to come.
After years of talk and planning, Interstate 69 has made its way into Texas. The first stretch to get the ribbon-cutting consists of six and a half miles of freeway concrete from Robstown and State Highway 44 up to Interstate 37 northwest of Corpus Christi. Eventually, one thousand miles covering four components of Interstate 69 in Texas will be constructed and opened to the public as a genuine interstate highway. The main road will be from Laredo through Victoria and Houston, into East Texas and to the Sabine River east of the town of Joaquin before entering Louisiana. It is expected to ultimately connect with Shreveport, and then traverse to El Dorado, AR, Memphis, TN, and through Kentucky as it winds up at its current southern terminus in Indianapolis, IN, before going into Michigan and Canada. The other Texas components are legs off of Interstate 69: I-69E from Brownsville to Victoria, I-69C from McAllen to George West at I-69, and an unnamed stretch of highway along U.S. 59 from near Carthage to Texarkana. It's possible that that designation could get I-69N, but it's not confirmed yet. The aforementioned stretch by Robstown will eventually be changed to I-69E when that stretch reaches completion, along with the other components.
Basically, to get I-69 complete, they are upgrading divided highway sections of U.S. Highways 281, 84, 59, and 77 to interstate freeway standards. Some sections of highway will have bypasses that will be newly built. Some freeway portions have been finished for a few years, most notably the recently-rebuilt U.S. 59 freeway through Houston. Next year, that stretch will be receiving the new I-69 signage. Seaports and cities on or near the route will be better served and more truck traffic is anticipated; thus, the need for this highway.
I-69 Sign Installed Along US 77 - KiiiTV3.com South Texas, Corpus Christi, Coastal Bend
Yep, this is going to be a monumental event with this new interstate going in in the years ahead, and one that I'll certainly clinch on some road trip someday.
Stay tuned. There will be more to come.Total Comments 6
Comments
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Should be a positive for those parts of the state.Posted 12-11-2011 at 10:02 PM by shoe01
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This will also be great news for anyone wishing to travel to places like South Padre Island from points north. In a few years, the trip's going to get faster!
Posted 12-14-2011 at 02:50 PM by case44
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By the way, that stretch from Texarkana to south of Carthage could also face getting a 3-digit number (I-X69) rather than 69N. Just a thought. When I hear or read something, I'll keep you posted.Posted 02-13-2012 at 06:35 PM by case44
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It should also be noted that, if and when built, Interstate 69 would be just the second single interstate to completely go from Canada to Mexico (Interstate 5 in the west coast states is the only one thus far). The difference with I-69 is that it will go through the middle of the country and connect more areas.Posted 05-11-2012 at 05:29 AM by case44
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I wonder if there are any plans to extend 35 up to the Canadian border, and then to have a Canadian extension meet up with the Trans-Canada Highway at Thunder Bay? It looks like some of the route is already divided highway north of Duluth.
Edit: after looking up Google Maps, it looks as though there might have to be some more upgrades that our neighbors to the north might need to make to handle increased truck traffic if that were to happen. So, maybe it's not as cut-and-dried as I thought it would be. Plus, there might be other concerns.Posted 05-11-2012 at 11:06 PM by shoe01
Updated 05-11-2012 at 11:19 PM by shoe01 -
Regarding that, shoe, I don't believe anything's been discussed up in Minnesota about that. I doubt that it's going to happen, at least in the foreseeable future.Posted 05-12-2012 at 07:11 AM by case44
