LUMBERTON, Texas — The Texas Department of Transportation is inviting the public to two different meetings to help them pick the location of a proposed evacuation route.
TxDOT's Beaumont District is proposing a US 69 relief route with the intentions of providing a route to support safe and efficient north to south movement of people and goods between Beaumont and Woodville, according to TxDOT's website.
The project would stretch approximately 20.2 miles from Cooks Lake Road, which is south of Lumberton, to FM 1003, which is north of Kountze, in Hardin County.
US 69 runs from Port Arthur to Denison, Texas and is designated as a hurricane evacuation route.
Beaumont resident for 36 years, Dawn Singleton, tells 12News for Hurricane Rita, she along with her daughter, 2-week-old grand baby and four children were stuck on the road trying to evacuate.
"It was very putt putt going, you know people were stopping and going, you know we didn't get very far at all at any particular time," Singleton said.
She says it took 12 hours to get to Lufkin when it usually takes two hours.
"It was very congested. I worry about that now, being that 69 is pretty much got all that construction going on," Singleton said.
The US 69 relief route would include a new location roadway that would require 325 feet of right-of-way width.
The ultimate roadway will include two 12-foot lanes in each direction, a northbound 13-foot outside shoulder to be used as a hurricane evacuation lane and a southbound 10-foot outside shoulder, according to the website.
The project will also include a two-lane frontage road in each direction. Bicycle and pedestrian accommodations will be considered.
Sarah Dupree with TxDOT says this is very important for hurricane evacuation among other things.
"It's also very important for freight movement. The Lumberton, the Kountze area, they're both getting very congested," Dupre said.
Dupree says this is going to be a completely different roadway.
"This is going to be a relief route around Lumberton, around Kountze and it's going to be controlled access," she said.
TxDOT wants your input to help choose their new roadway route, which you can do through their interactive map.
"We're looking at several different alignments, so we need people to go online and let us know how they feel about that," Dupree said. "Whether you might have property in that area, whether you might travel that area, whatever it may be, drop those pins let us know your comments about that proposed alignment."
TxDOT representatives are hosting two in-person public meetings, in which attendees will be able to review project materials, ask questions and leave written comments.
- Lumberton Public Meeting
Tuesday, May 2, 2023, 6 to 8 p.m.
Lumberton Performing Arts Center
105 South LHS Drive
Lumberton, TX 77657 - Kountze Public Meeting
Thursday, May 4, 2023, 6 to 8 p.m.
Kountze High School - Gymnasium
1488 FM 1293
Kountze, TX 77625
The virtual public meeting will provide the same materials as well, including providing a pre-recorded video presentation. These materials will be available by noon on Tuesday, May 2, 2023.
Comments must be received or postmarked on or before Friday, May 19, 2023, to be a part of the official meeting record.
- Online: Comment form
- Online engagement Site
- Email: bmtprojects@txdot.gov
- Mail: Texas Department of Transportation, US 69 Lumberton Kountze Relief Route, 8350 Eastex Freeway, Beaumont, Texas 77708