The San Angelo City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved a trio of resolutions supporting a long-term initiative to develop a continuous north-south interstate system across several states, including Texas, Colorado, New Mexico, and others.
The move is part of a broader push led by the Ports-to-Plains Alliance to secure federal support, funding, and formal interstate designation for the corridor.
The three resolutions express support for:
- A new Future Interstate Highway Formula Program to fund development;
- A multi-state feasibility study to evaluate remaining corridor segments; and
- Interstate designation and route numbering for the Heartland Expressway, Theodore Roosevelt Expressway, and key sections of the Ports-to-Plains Corridor.
Addressing a Critical Gap in the Interstate System
According to the Director of the San Angelo Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) Major Hofheins, there currently is no dedicated funding source for actually building the proposed highway segments, although much of the corridor has been federally designated for future development.
The proposed Future Interstate Highway Formula Program would change that by creating a new federal funding mechanism.
“This is a big deal,” said Hofheins. “The problem is that the federal government has never had a funding source for interstate construction. They’ve always been quick to designate, but there’s never been any funding.”
According to Hofheins, the new formula, if adopted, would differ from existing funding mechanisms based on state population. Instead, it would allocate funds based on the total number of unconstructed miles of designated-future-interstate within each state—giving more weight to rural and underserved regions like West Texas.
“This is a great thing because it’s going to make this a cohesive effort all the way from border to border,” Hofheins said. “It’s going to actually establish some funding, it’s going to give rules for acquiring that funding, and then from there, things get better.”
A Long-Term Vision: Ports-to-Plains, I-27, and San Angelo’s Role
The Ports-to-Plains Corridor, envisioned as a critical trade route linking Mexico to Canada through the U.S. heartland, includes Interstate 27 as its backbone.
Currently, I-27 only runs between Lubbock and Amarillo, but state and federal officials have begun extending the designation southward to Laredo and, potentially, northward into Colorado and beyond.
Hofheins recalled that the concept was born out of a need to provide relief to overloaded trade corridors like I-35, which handles a significant amount of freight traffic from the U.S.–Mexico border.
“We spend a lot of money and a lot of effort improving ports along the border… and then we dump them onto a highway system that isn’t prepared to handle it,” he said. “Any of you that has driven I-35 lately knows exactly what I mean. That delay is very costly and it’s frustrating.”
Creating an alternate route west of I-35, through areas like San Angelo, is intended to alleviate that bottleneck and improve freight movement through rural Texas and neighboring states.
San Angelo Projects Already Underway
Hofheins noted that San Angelo is already playing an active role in developing the corridor. The city is now constructing a relief route to redirect truck traffic around urban areas to improve safety and travel efficiency.
“If you look back at I-10, it took 30 years to build it because it was built in pieces,” said Hofheins. “And right now, I-27 is being built in pieces.
“San Angelo is participating—we’re building a relief route. Our little portion is being done.”
He added that organizations such as the MPO, TxDOT, and the Federal Highway Administration are collaborating with the city to advance the projects, with federal funding the critical missing piece.
Unified Study Across Multiple States
The second resolution supports a multi-state feasibility study of the corridor. City Manager Daniel Valenzuela said the study is essential to ensuring a coordinated approach and avoiding disjointed or redundant evaluations by each state.
“These resolutions are tremendous, and something we want to support,” Valenzuela said. “We want to make sure we have a unified study, not a fragmented study that each group would have to do individually. This is something that is key, and I’m glad it’s coming forth right now for city council for decision.”
The feasibility study would analyze the remaining gaps in the corridor, provide cost estimates, and lay the groundwork for formal designation as part of the interstate system.
Interstate Designation and Route Numbering
The final resolution supports formal interstate designation and numbering for the entire corridor, including assigning the I-27 number across all future segments.
Designation is necessary to make those segments eligible for the proposed funding formula and would help attract private investment, improve logistics efficiency, and foster rural economic development.
“This is important to us because the more that gets finished, the greater the economic development for San Angelo and the surrounding areas,” Hofheins said.
According to Hofheins, the Ports-to-Plains Advisory Committee requested that communities along the corridor adopt the three resolutions to demonstrate regional support for the initiative.
