Infrastructure Bill Contains Highway Expansion to Connect 12 Military Bases in Five Southern States – By Rose L. Thayer (Stars and Stripes) / Aug 16 2021
A proposed stretch of interstate highway that would connect a dozen military bases between Texas and Georgia made its way into the $1 trillion infrastructure bill passed by the Senate this week with the expectation it will improve access to bases located in some of the more isolated stretches of the South.
The highway is a “major step in advancing Interstate 14 as a future corridor for handling freight movement, military facility connectivity, coastal evacuation and sparking economic development,” said John Thompson, chairman of the Gulf Coast Strategic Highway Coalition, a group of community leaders who advocate for the highway.
If the House passes the sweeping legislation and sends it to President Joe Biden to sign into law, it will expand Interstate Highway 14 from its 25 miles near Fort Hood, Texas, into Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and onto Augusta, Ga. The proposed 1,300-mile route runs between Interstate Highways 10 and 20 and would primarily upgrade already existing roads.
It would better connect tens of thousands of troops and families at bases including Goodfellow Air Force Base, Texas, Fort Polk, La., Camp Shelby and Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala., and Fort Benning, Robins Air Force Base and Fort Gordon in Georgia, advocates contend.
