Thread: State pushes Ports-to-Plains link

By the location of this it doesn't seem to be the nasco corridor but i guess it would tie in eventually.
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By The Associated Press
Funds for construction OK'd

The Oklahoma Transportation Commission agreed Monday to draw up plans for part of Oklahoma's portion of the Ports-to-Plains Corridor, a ribbon of north-south roadways that eventually will link seaports in Mexico with Denver and the U.S.-Canadian border.

The commission authorized more than $1.6 million for Cobb Engineering Co. to develop final construction plans for a four-mile stretch of the highway in Cimarron County in the Oklahoma Panhandle. The $23 million project is expected to begin next year.

"It's a good project," state Transportation Director Gary Ridley said after the commission gave the project its unanimous approval. The highway is part of Oklahoma's eight-year transportation construction plan.

The federal government is paying 80 percent of the project's cost with the state picking up the rest.

The corridor will use existing portions of U.S. 287 that runs for about 40 miles across the far western Panhandle between Texas and Colorado.

Various improvements are planned to the roadway to prepare it for inclusion in the corridor, especially the segment that runs north from Boise City to the Colorado border, Transportation Department spokeswoman Terri Angier said.

The total cost of the Ports-to-Plains project in Oklahoma is estimated at $60 million, including acquisition of rights of way, Angier said.

Conceived under federal legislation, supporters believe the corridor will serve international trade traffic and promote economic development.

Freight movement throughout North America is expected to increase by 50 percent in the next 10 years, Angier said.

oklahomans.... revolt we can stop this at your state!!!