FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 3, 2003
Contact:  Marie DesOrmeaux
(202) 225-3772
 
Ross: Fund I-49 Now
 
(Washington, D.C.) Sitting on a panel of fellow members of the bipartisan I-49 Caucus, Fourth District Rep. Mike Ross (D-Ark.) today told members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Interstate 49 should be among projects funded in this year’s transportation reauthorization bill.  Ross, who is also seeking funding for other highway projects in the Fourth District, including I-69, today joined the I-49 Caucus in a united effort to secure the final funding necessary to complete the border-to-border interstate.

“We talk about the need for an economic stimulus, well Mr. Chairman, here it is,” said Ross in his testimony.  “For every billion dollars spent on highway construction that is matched by states, 47,500 new jobs are created.  That means that the $4 billion worth of work needed to complete I-49 will give jobs to 190,000 workers.”

Ross said that the section from Texarkana north to Alma is estimated to cost about $1.5 billion.  Environmental studies have been completed and a Record of Decision was signed in 2002 for the section stretching from Texarkana north to DeQueen.  “Without significant funding in the next highway reauthorization bill, this critical link of I-49, and others all along the route cannot be completed in the next six years.  The nation, the region, and the people of my congressional district need the economic opportunities that the completion of I-49 will bring.”

The Arkansas Highway Department has made progress in the construction of I-49 from Texarkana to near the Louisiana state line.  The total cost for the construction of this 29-mile segment of I-49 is $101 million, all of which has already been provided to the project from both the state and federal governments.  The Arkansas Highway Department is scheduled to complete the segment from state highway 245 at Texarkana to the town of Doddridge this year, and two projects to construct the loop 245/Highway 71 Interchange in Texarkana have already been completed at a cost of $12.6 million.  The remaining 5 miles from Doddridge to the Louisiana state line will cost $50 million.

“A strong commitment of funding for the I-49 project in this reauthorization bill can complete major segments of the project that will connect the whole system together and will finally allow us to reap the benefits of the decades of work that have brought the project to this point.  Without a commitment of funds the potential growth of our nation will not be fully realized,” Ross said.


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