I-27 Numbering Act passes U.S. House; interstate expansion could start as soon as next year

Legislation dictating how a future expansion of Interstate 27 will be named recently passed the U.S. House of Representatives, marking another win for the Ports-to-Plains Corridor.

The I-27 Numbering Act of 2023 passed the House last week after previously passing in the Senate. The Senate will need to confirm changes to the bill made in the House before it heads to Pres. Joe Biden's desk.

The legislation simply names the previously designated corridor, which was not previously numbered when it was federally designated last year.

Stakeholders, including Rep. Jodey Arrington, R-Lubbock, who sponsored the bill in the House, celebrated the milestone.

"The Ports to Plains Corridor is going to create thousands of jobs for West Texas and deliver a $50 billion economic impact over the next 20 years," Arrington said. "I’m proud to have had my bipartisan bill passed out of the House, with the help of my friend Henry Cuellar (D-Laredo). This project is a game-changer for West Texas and all Americans who rely on our nation’s energy independence and food security."

"This numbering legislation championed by Congressman Arrington with the help of his staff is critical in the development and evolution of the Ports-to-Plains corridor to interstate standards," stated Port-to-Plains Alliance President and CEO Lauren Garduño. "This legislation will help us secure funding and will allow us to add interstate signage as our corridor is upgraded to interstate standards."

At least one major change was made in the House version of the bill; designations for several spur segments of the interstate corridor where the highway will split were changed.

As outlined in the House bill, the new route numbers will be as follows:

• Laredo to Sterling City as I-27

• Sterling City through Midland to Lamesa as I-27W

• Sterling City to Lamesa as I-27E

• Lamesa northbound through Lubbock to Amarillo passing through Dumas to Raton, New Mexico as I-27

• The corridor north of Dumas as I-27N

The previous Senate version of the bill, introduced by Texas Republican Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz in March, designated the Lamesa spur as I-227 and the Dumas portion as I-327.

"There's a lot of information at the federal level that talks about how to utilize a three-number designation, and (the federal government's) original recommendation was that three-number designation," Garduño said. "But a lot of times you see a three-number interstate used on … spurs that are in metropolitan areas.

"We felt like the three-digit numbering system did not work for us there. … So being a rural corridor, we went ahead and used the east and west designation."

Garduño said work can now move forward with the Texas Department of Transportation on designing the future interstate, and he noted the Lubbock area could see a few new miles of I-27 as early as next spring.

"(TxDOT) is finished with developing the segment south of Lubbock where the interstate ends at the loop," Garduño said. "They have completed the work to extend Interstate 27 about 4 1/2 to 5 miles south of there.

"So maybe here in the spring, we're hoping about February or so, we'll have a sign unveiling, and we're going to actually move that interstate five miles south of Lubbock."

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: I-27 Numbering Act passes House; interstate expansion could start next year