|
A step closer
By Bill Hankins
The Paris News
Published November 5, 2009
COOPER — Congressman Ralph Hall and State Rep. Mark Homer lead a long list of state and local officials scheduled to attend a dedication ceremony for the Delta County Highway 24 Expansion Friday.
The dedication will also feature Texas Department of Transportation officials.
TxDOT featured strongly in the completion of the four-lane divided highway project between Paris and Cooper.
County judges from the three NETMOB counties — Hunt, Delta and Lamar — will be at the dedication.
Speakers will address the audience beginning at 1 p.m. at the “Welcome to Cooper” gateway sign on Highway 24 and N.W. 1st Street.
Don Wall, president of Northeast Texas Regional Mobility Council, said: “We are excited about this section of highway that officially links Paris and Cooper with a four-lane divided highway.
“We have 10.3 miles left between Cooper and Commerce to widen to a four-lane divided highway, and we are working on getting that accomplished,” Wall said.
He said the importance of the project to be dedicated Friday is that it will help with traffic congestion and the environment and will be an economic engine for Northeast Texas.
“It is a dire necessity we widen that remaining 10.3 miles between Cooper and Commerce,” Wall said. “Then we will open up a four-lane connection from Paris to I-30.”
“TxDOT is working diligently to get that project done,” he said. “When that happens, we can use this great thoroughfare with ease and watch the economy boom along the way.”
Wall said the work on Highway 24 began long ago, in 1955, and “It has been a long, hard fight.”
“You have to have patience. You have to have long vision, and we are excited about what we have accomplished,” he said.
Share |
Save |
Mail |
Print |
Letter
|
|
 |
|
|
