Toll 49 expansion plans adjust to safety

LONGVIEW — As a proposed expansion to Toll 49 takes shape, contractors and officials have presented changes and adjustments at the North East Texas Regional Mobility Authority (NET RMA) meeting on Tuesday, after East Texans’ voiced concerns for safety. At Longview’s Mod Cobb Convention Center, locals gathered for the NET RMA’s public information meeting to hear about the expansion project, which would stretch from State Highway 110 to US 271 and give drivers another option for traveling east from Tyler.

This was the second part of the public meeting — the first half happened in Tyler on June 2 — as the project undergoes an Environmental Impact Statement study. Some residents have raised concerns regarding the road’s proximity to schools, such as the Save Kids from Loop 49 advocacy group, which looks to keep school children safe from the effects the expansion may have.

Since the first public hearing, changes have already come about, moving the route farther from the elementary school. Despite the approved reroute, some still think the project is too close to schools and highly populated roads.

Other opposition to the project comes from a grieving mother, Danielle Bailey, who lost her daughter in a head-on collision on the already existing roadway. Bailey is calling for improvements to be made on the existing stretch of Toll 49 before they move forward with another project.

When asked about the safety of the current Toll 49, representatives for the project said they could only speak on the new expansion, but explained that the future project has safety in mind.

“We would look to build it with the grass median in the center,” Dillard said. “It will be a median that is wider than the I-10 median.”

If this project is approved, construction will begin around the year 2033.