SMITH COUNTY, Texas — Segment 6 on Toll road 49 has been narrowed down from more than 40 different routes to only three.
Colleen Colby with North East Texas Regional Mobility Authority described the three options remaining for the road: purple yellow or teal.
The next stage of this expansion- deciding where to put the road- will be a challenge because there are people’s properties to consider.
Whitehouse mayor James Wansley said, “That's an unfortunate side effect of this. If you want to have a mode of travel, like route 49, then the land will come from business owners. It will come from private landowners and that's hard.”
He added that the road has huge value for Whitehouse residents traveling into Tyler for school and work and suggested that the best way to please the community is to seriously consider every person’s input.
NetRMA said that’s the plan.
Colby said, “The next step in that process is to have a public meeting. A public meeting essentially means we gather everyone in the community who wants to come and provide input for the toll road. We pull out the maps. We ask for all their input.”
This mobility authority also wants to make sure residents know that in the off chance that they need to buy someone's home to make way for the road, they will pay market rate for the property.