The Texas Department of Transportation will be hosting public meetings on Tuesday, Jan. 13 in Temple and Wednesday, Jan. 14 in Belton to gather feedback on proposed Interstate 35 improvements from south of Loop 121 to Loop 363/US 190.
According to Jake Smith, a TxDOT spokesperson, the improvements will enhance mobility, connectivity, and safety along I-35 in the Belton/Temple area.
Both meetings will be from 5 to 7 p.m. The Temple meeting will be at the Mayborn Civic & Convention Center, 3303 N Third Street. The Belton meeting will be at the Cadence Bank Center Assembly Hall, 301 W Loop 121.
Both meetings will be available online at
www.txdot.gov (keyword search, “I-35 Extension”). According to Smith, project staff will be available to answer questions.
“No formal presentation is planned,” Smith said. “Attendees may come and go at their convenience.”
“We welcome any comments, feedback, or questions for both communities,” he said. “TxDOT is proposing the widening of I-35 from Loop 121 in Belton to Loop 363 in Temple as part of the expansion of Interstate 14 from where it merges into I-35 in Belton to the I-35/Loop 363 exchange in Temple.”
“The project will be built to serve current and future traffic volumes,” Smith continued. “The proposed typical section would include — in each direction — an additional general purpose lane for a total of four general purpose lanes, three express lanes, two to three frontage road lanes, and a shared-use path.”
“This segment is part of a larger project that will extend I-14 from its current terminus in Belton to Business 190 in Rogers, comprising a total of three segments,” Smith added.
Smith said the project could be completed by 2030, but he pointed out that the timeline is subject to change.
Plans for Bell County’s own little interstate to eventually stretch 1,300 miles from Odessa to Augusta, Ga., may take decades, but work to expand I-14 through Temple could start by 2027.
Smith said TxDOT started an environmental study and schematic design process in 2023.
Don Rodman, administrator for the Gulf Coast Strategic Highway Coalition, has been working on the I-14 project since 2001, and he sees 2021’s infrastructure bill and a change in I-14 designation as important steps forward.
“Interstate 14 received Texas designation in 2015, and last year Congress changed that to a five-state designation,” Rodman said. “But that did not come with money attached.”
“The National Interstate & Defense Highways Act of 1956 helped establish interstate highways in the United States, but that program ended years ago,” he said. “Now, there is no direct federal program for building interstates. Each state’s Department of Transportation is now responsible, but thankfully there is federal money available. A five-state I-14, however, will be built in stages and it will take several decades to complete.”
According to Rodman, the Unified Transportation Program — a 10-year plan for allocating money for federal transportation projects — shows several I-14 related projects that will begin between 2026 to 2032.
That plan calls for the widening of US 190 from the western end of I-14 to the Coryell County line. It also includes several Temple projects that will upgrade US 190 to a freeway between South 31st Street and the eastern portion of Loop 363 by removing traffic signals and building overpasses or underpasses.
The plan does not list a I-35/I-14 flyover that would connect to US 190, a project that would be vital to a I-14 designation in Temple, but Smith said that would be included in the Temple project.
Interstates 14 and 35 will be the same highway from Belton north to Temple. The 14 will veer eastward at the intersection with South HK Dodgen Loop (Loop 363) near Cracker Barrel.
“The Texas Department of Transportation purchased right-of-ways years ago for flyovers that will eventually take motorists from I-35/I-14 to what is now US 190 in Temple,” Bell County Judge David Blackburn said.
“That’s a huge project — there are others as well.”
“Discussions about the need for an east-west interstate designation through Bell County began years ago as a means of increasing economic development, particularly in the Killeen area,” Blackburn said.
“Companies looking to move into a new area have a checklist of things they want and need, and proximity to an interstate is at the top of that list. An interstate designation opens doors of opportunity, there’s no doubt about that.”
Blackburn believes I-14 will eventually cross five states.
“Yes, I think it will become a five-state interstate, but it may not be in my professional lifetime,” he said.
“There are obstacles, especially when it comes to funding.”
