Thread: Highway 26 to join Heartland Express

http://www.torringtontelegram.com/main. ... 87&page=23


Highway 26 to join Heartland Express
BY MICHAEL HAYS, CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Congress is currently deciding on the fate of Highway 26 in the Heartland Express Project, and Mayor Mike Varney hopes a final decision will be reached before the end of legislative sessions.
Nebraska Congresswoman, Virginia Smith, originally pushed the project in the late 1980s, and Mayor Varney has been representing the interests of Wyoming, Goshen County and Torrington since Aug. of 1992. Varney says two different versions of the Heartland Express proposal exist, and the proposal that is currently being debated in the senate will more generously fund the project.
If all goes well in congress, historic Highway 26 will become part of the Heartland Expressway that will join the Ports to Plains Trade Corridor and the Theodore Roosevelt Expressway to form the Great Plains International Corridor. The Great Plains International Corridor is being designed to more effectively facilitate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), by providing more four-lane divided highways between Canada and Mexico.
The proposal specifically asks that U.S. 26 from exit 94 north of Wheatland on I-25 to the Nebraska State-Line be renamed the Robert Stuart Discovery Expressway as a trade corridor feeder route and part of the Heartland Expressway. Varney said that bringing this part of the expressway through Torrington is very important to the economic development of our community.
“I don’t look at it as leakage,� Varney said of the involvement of U.S. 26 in the project. “I look at it as a way to bring traffic into Wyoming.�
Varney added that highways promote tourism and economic development. Additionally, proposals are in place that involve U.S. 85 between Cheyenne and Torrington.
Specifically, these proposals ask that several sections of Highway 85 be targeted for expansion to three lanes of highway. This is expected to boost the economy of Eastern Wyoming by diverting more of Goshen County’s economic leakage to the city of Cheyenne. Furthermore, Torrington stands to benefit from these highway projects because both U.S. 85 and U.S. 26 run through town.
More specifics are expected to be released on the Heartland Express Project at the conclusion of this congressional session.

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Then it must be part of the 'Super Hwy 69'??
Also known as NAFTA Hwy

It seems like 69 is the main artery and they plan to have other highways connecting it to more cities.