NETRMA plans 13 more miles of toll road in East Texas

Updated Jan 10, 2019
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The North East Texas Regional Mobility Authority (NETRMA) is planning to add an additional 13 miles of toll lanes to the Lindale Toll 49 toll road in East Texas after more than 930,000 vehicles have traveled it since its opening in November 2018, KLTV reports. This will continue the toll road through Chapel Hill all the way to Interstate 20.

“We call it the eastern bypass,” said NETRMA Executive Director Chris Miller, according to the news agency. “It runs from State Highway 110 which is down by Whitehouse, and it will go east and head north towards State Highway 31, and then, ultimately, the plan is for it to connect at around Highway 271 and 155 where the UT East Texas System is. Probably about $274 million is where estimates are right now, and where we are with this project is the environmental stage, that’s like a 3, 3-and-a-half-year project.”

The intended route takes it through wetlands, so the environmental stage will determine if the new road will impact wildlife, specifically endangered species.

“And then the next stage will be the design phase where you start to really hone in on how the project will move forward,” Miller told the news agency, adding that he expects the project to be completed by 2027.