Highway to be Re-Surfaced near Texarkana

A section of US 67 west of Texarkana will receive a new riding surface this summer according to plans approved in March by the Texas Department of Transportation.

“We will be resurfacing a 2-mile section of the highway from FM 989 (Kings Highway) to FM 2148,” said Paul Wong, area engineer for TxDOT in Texarkana. “In addition to resurfacing the roadway, we will be restriping it from four lanes to three lanes. The current traffic control has four 11-foot traffic lanes with no turn lane or shoulders. The new traffic control pattern will have one 12-foot traffic lane in each direction divided by a 14-foot flush median or turn lane and 3-foot paved shoulders on each side.

“The new lane layout should help to reduce the number of accidents in this area by giving motorist needing to turn left a place to go out of the traffic lanes while waiting for traffic to clear in the opposite direction,” Wong said. “We are planning to add additional lanes to this section at a future date, when funding becomes available, but we feel this should increase traffic safety in the meantime.”

East Texas Bridge of Longview, was awarded the contract for the construction project with a bid of $1.1 million.

Work on the project should begin in June and take about three months to complete, Wong said.