Texas State Highway Loop 49

Infobox TX State Highway
type=Loop
route=49
shields=


length_mi=5
length_km=
formed=1986 (first segment opened 2006)
dir1=CW
dir2=CCW
from=
junction=
to=
previous_type=Loop
previous_route=48
next_type=Loop
next_route=50

Loop 49 (also called Toll 49) is a tollway that will, along with the existing Interstate 20, encircle the city of Tyler, Texas upon completion.

Plans for Loop 49 have been in the works for 30 years, with the original plans calling for a freeway to be built. However, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) determined that funds to build the freeway were not available, and that the road could not be built until 2033. In response, the North East Texas Regional Mobility Authority (NET RMA) chose to build the highway as a tollway with an electronic toll system.

Construction began in August 2003 on the first five mile segment (called Segment 1) extending east from SH 155 (Frankston Hwy) in Noonday to US 69 (Broadway Ave) in south Tyler. The road is a two-lane undivided highway, which will be expanded to a four lane divided highway at an unspecified time in the future. Grand opening of Loop 49 took place on August 17, 2006. Tolling began on November 27, 2006.

Segment 2, which extends approximately 2.0 miles from US 69 east to FM 756 (Paluxy Dr), opened to traffic January 7, 2008. Construction is scheduled to begin on Segment 5, which extends from FM 756 to SH 110 in Whitehouse in late 2008. Segment 3A is 30% through the design phase. Segment 3B, the longest section of the toll road which will connect the road to Interstate 20, is in the initial stages of the design phase.

chedule of Openings

Loop 49 is divided into segments scheduled to open in phases:

East Texas Hourglass

Loop 49 is the first part of the East Texas Hourglass, a major network of tollways and freeways designed to ease congestion and provide faster connections between the cities of Tyler, Longview, and Marshall in East Texas. All East Texas Hourglass roads will be controlled-access roads, adhering to Interstate highway standards. The East Texas Hourglass is the first major project of the North East Texas Regional Mobility Authority (NET RMA), which was established in 2004.

ee also

*Loop 323, the existing inner loop around Tyler, built in the 1950s.
*Tyler, Texas

External links

* [http://www.loop49.org/ Official Loop 49 Website]
* [http://www.netrma.org/ Loop 49 at NET RMA]
* [http://www.dot.state.tx.us/TYL/projects/SL49/map.htm Loop 49 planning map]