Authority overview | |
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Formed | October 28, 2004 |
Headquarters | 1011 Pruitt Place Tyler, TX 75703 |
Website | www |
The North East Texas Regional Mobility Authority (NET RMA) is a Regional Mobility Authority covering several counties in the U.S. state of Texas. The NET RMA was created by the Texas Transportation Commission in 2004, originally containing the counties of Smith and Gregg. [1] It was the 5th RMA established in the State of Texas, and is headquartered in Tyler. The authority claims to "provide solutions to expedite transportation and mobility projects that will improve the quality of life, enhance the regional economy and assure efficient mobility in the North East Texas Region." [2]
The NET RMA was established October 28, 2004 by a unanimous vote from the Texas Transportation Commission originally covering Smith and Gregg counties. [1] In June 2006, the NET RMA became the first RMA in Texas to expand beyond its original county members, adding Cherokee, Harrison, Rusk, and Upshur counties, bringing the total number of member counties to six. In July 2007, the RMA expanded once again when the Texas Transportation Commission passed a resolution approving six additional counties—Bowie, Cass, Panola, Titus, Van Zandt and Wood. This brought the total membership to 12 counties. [1] In November 2013, Kaufman County joined the RMA around the same time Cass County withdrew its membership, leaving the NET RMA at a 12 county membership.
The NET RMA is led by a Board of Directors with at least one board member representing each member county. [3] The Board is currently chaired by Gary Halbrooks. [3] The board members are appointed by each county's Commissioners' Court. Board members serve staggered two year terms that expire on February 1 of each year. Board members can be reappointed.
The NET RMA undertakes various projects to meet its goal of enhancing mobility and creating economic opportunity in the north East Texas Region. Projects the NET RMA may undertake include tolled or non-tolled roadway, passenger or freight rail, airport, intermodal hub, parking garages, pedestrian or bicycle facilities, border crossing station (except in Laredo, TX), automated conveyor belt for movement of freight, air quality improvement initiative, public utility facility, and projects listed in the State Implementation Plan. [4]
The flagship project of the NET RMA is Loop 49, a halfway completed tollway designed to improve connections and relieve congestion in the cities of Tyler, Longview, and Marshall. Loop 49 is being built in several phases, including:
The first segment of Loop 49, which stretches from US 69 to SH 155, opened in August 2006. [5] The second segment of Toll 49, from US 69 to FM 756 (Paluxy Road) opened in January 2008.
Smith County is a county in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 233,479. Its county seat is Tyler. Smith County is named for James Smith, a general during the Texas Revolution.
Tyler is a city in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the seat of government of Smith County, and the largest city in Northeast Texas. With a 2020 census population of 105,995, Tyler was the 33rd most populous city in Texas and 299th in the United States. It is the principal city of the Tyler metropolitan statistical area, which is the 198th most populous metropolitan area in the U.S. and 16th in Texas after Waco and the College Station–Bryan areas, with a population of 233,479 in 2020.
Longview is a city in and county seat of Gregg County, Texas, United States. Longview is located in East Texas, where Interstate 20 and U.S. highways 80 and 259 converge just north of the Sabine River. According to the 2020 U.S. census, the city had a population of 81,638. Longview is the principal city of the Longview metropolitan statistical area, comprising Gregg, Upshur, and Rusk counties. The population of the metropolitan area as of 2021 census estimates was 287,858.
The Ark-La-Tex is a socio-economic tri-state region where the Southern U.S. states of Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas join together. The region contains portions of Northwest Louisiana, Northeast Texas, and South Arkansas as well as the extreme southeastern tip of Oklahoma, in McCurtain County, partly centered upon the Red River, which flows along the Texas–Oklahoma state line into Southwestern Arkansas and Northwest Louisiana.
U.S. Route 69 (US 69) is a major north–south United States highway. When it was first created, it was only 150 miles (241 km) long, but it has since been expanded into a Minnesota to Texas cross-country route. The highway's southern terminus is in Port Arthur, Texas at an intersection with State Highway 87. Its northern terminus is in Albert Lea, Minnesota at Minnesota State Highway 13.
State Highway 99, also known as the Grand Parkway, is a ring road in the U.S. state of Texas. Its first section opened on August 31, 1994. When the route is completed, it will be the longest beltway in the U.S., the world's seventh-longest ring road, and the third (outer) loop of the Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land metropolitan area, with Interstate 610 being the first (inner) loop and Beltway 8 being the second (middle) loop. The proposed 170-mile (270 km) loop has been divided into 11 separate segments for construction and funding purposes. In May 2019, the Texas Department of Transportation gave the Grand Parkway a secondary designation as the Mayor Bob Lanier Memorial Parkway, honoring Bob Lanier, who served as the mayor of Houston from 1992 to 1998 and who had spearheaded the creation of the Grand Parkway.
Beltway 8 (BW8), the Sam Houston Parkway, along with the Sam Houston Tollway, is an 88-mile (142 km) beltway around the city of Houston, Texas, United States, lying entirely within Harris County.
Loop 323 is a state highway loop in Texas in the United States. It is a 19.7-mile (31.7 km) highway circling the city of Tyler in Smith County.
State Highway 31 runs from U.S. 84 northeast of Waco via Corsicana, Athens, Tyler, Kilgore to U.S. 80 in Longview.
State Highway 26 (SH 26) is a Texas state highway located completely within Tarrant County. SH 26 was designated on July 2, 1917. SH 26 terminates at Texas State Highway 183 and Texas State Highway 121. SH 26 was redesignated from its original location in East Texas to its current location in Tarrant County on April 4, 1980. SH 26 was the last of the original 26 state highways proposed in 1917.
Loop 49 is a currently 32-mile (51 km) circular tollway that, along with I-20, will encircle the city of Tyler and serve other various communities in Northeast Texas upon its completion. Routing of the loop north of I-20 bypasses Lindale to the west and passes by the west and south sides of Tyler south of I-20. The highway interconnects suburban areas and areas of potential development around Tyler with I-20 and provides local areas easier access to the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex.
The Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority is an independent government agency created in 2002 to improve the transportation system in Travis and Williamson Counties in Texas. The Mobility Authority is headquartered at 3300 N. IH 35 in Austin.
A regional mobility authority (RMA) is an independent local government transportation agency in the U.S. state of Texas.
State Highway 322 is a Texas state highway that runs from US 259 in Henderson to I-20/US 259/Loop 281 in Longview.
Interstate 20 in Texas (I-20) is a major east–west Interstate Highway in the Southern United States, running east from a junction with I-10 east of Kent, Texas, through the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex to the Louisiana state line near Waskom, Texas. The original distance of I-20 was 647 miles (1,041 km) from I-10 to the Louisiana state line, reduced to the current distance of 636 miles (1,024 km) with the rerouting of I-20 in the 1980s and 1990s. I-20 is known as the Ronald Reagan Memorial Highway within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex.
U.S. Route 69 is a north–south United States highway that runs from Port Arthur, Texas to Albert Lea, Minnesota. In Texas, US 69 runs from Port Arthur near the Gulf of Mexico to the Texas–Oklahoma state line just north of Denison.
There are approximately 25 current toll roads in the state of Texas. Toll roads are more common in Texas than in many other U.S. states, since the relatively low revenues from the state's gasoline tax limits highway planners' means to fund the construction and operation of highways.
The Tyler metropolitan area, or Greater Tyler area centered on the city of Tyler, Texas, is one of the largest Texan metropolitan areas in East Texas. It had a combined population of 216,080 according to the 2010 U.S. census, and 233,479 in 2020. The Tyler metropolitan area encompasses all of Smith County.