ORANGE, Texas — As construction on an $8.5 billion polymers plant in Orange County continues the company says it's taking traffic issues into consideration.
Golden Triangle Polymers Company is collaborating with the Texas Department of Transportation to begin making road improvements beginning in mid-April 2023 in the area where the plant is being built according to Hallie Frazee of Chevron Phillips Chemical company.
Chevron Phillips is partnering with Qatar Energy in the project, which is expected to bring more than 500 full-time jobs to the county.
So far the company has sent out about 150 notifications to nearby property owners to get word out about the planned roadwork.
Golden Triangle Polymers and TxDOT have an agreement that will allow GTPC to make improvements to the roadways between now and October 2023 to improve traffic flow along Texas Highway 87 from Cow Bayou to the construction site according to the company's website.
The road work is meant to "ensure safe passage for over-sized, heavy equipment related to the project" according to the website.
Here's some traffic protocols the company has implemented at its site...
- Entrance signs placed on north and southbound Texas Highway 87 to indicate where trucks should enter the construction site.
- No trucks entering from the south on FM 1006 will be allowed to park on Texas Highway 87 under any circumstances.
- Heavy haul trucks must remain in the right lanes and trucks exiting gate two must make a right turn on Texas Highway 87 and head north.
- To make sure of this a flagger will be positioned inside gate two.
The peak drive times for the current workforce to arrive and leave the site are 6 a.m. - 7:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. so more traffic can be expected then.
The plant, which will produce Marlex polyethylene, is expected to begin operating in 2026.
The plant is "expected to contribute $50 billion in residual economic impacts for the community" over the next 20 years, according to the release.
The plant will export 2.2 billion pounds of polyethylene a year while being environmentally friendly and reducing emissions by 25%.
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This is a developing story. We will update with more if and when we receive more confirmed information.