New Interstate Proposed Through Central Louisiana
Aug 22, 2018 06:35AM ● By Staff Writer
A non-profit organization created by student Frank Lumpkin IV of Columbus, Georgia is making national news with its proposal to build a new interstate that would connect with I-10 in West Texas and run east through Texas and the centers of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia, where it would connect with I-20 in Agusta, Georgia.
The proposed “I-14” interstate would pass through cities such as Bryan/College Station and Jasper Texas, Leesville and Alexandria Louisiana, Natchez and Laurel Mississippi, Selma and Montgomery Alabama, and Columbas and Macon Georgia.
The project first started to gain public support when in 2005 Congress commissions a study to be completed on the I-14 concept. Since then, interest in the proposed interstate has received local, state, and federal attention.
Although funding for the project is but one of the many hurdles that need to be obtained before I-14 could become a reality, a three-state caucus was formed in 2018 by State Representatives from Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi to further study and research the project.
Noted benefits of the proposed project would include much-needed interstate connectivity from West Texas to East Georgia in addition to enhancing economic growth, improving distribution for goods and services, improving emergency routes when evacuating natural disasters, and strategic mobility of U.S. armed forces.
To learn more about the effort to establish I-14 visit www.My14.org or www.youthinfrastructurecoalition.com.
