Port Houston leadership and staff with U.S. Rep. Brian Babin.

Port Houston leadership and staff attended the Alliance for I-69 Texas Annual Luncheon on November 19.  

“I-69 is the freight route for Texas; it touches every port in the state,” shared Loyd Neal, Nueces County Judge and chairman of the Alliance for I-69 Texas.

“Our future depends on I-69’s completion,” he noted. “We will be able to move the world’s goods much quicker and better.”

Planned as a freight corridor across the U.S. from Mexico to Canada, the I-69 route in Texas stretches from Texarkana to Brownsville.  A total of $3.4 billion in I-69 projects have been authorized by the Texas Department of Transportation. The funds are used to build the system incrementally, and TxDOT is continuing to bring more projects into development.

Luncheon keynote speaker U.S. Rep. Brian Babin, whose district includes the Port of Houston, addressed the development of the next transportation infrastructure investment bill and the potential opportunities for freight infrastructure, including I-69. Babin is a member of the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

Babin said that Texas cannot allow a weak link in the supply chain and he commended the work of the port and industry leaders for continuing to maintain progress going on road and infrastructure projects like I-69.