HOUSTON (AP) _ The Texas Transportation Commission with little fanfare has given the green light to designating a 35-mile stretch of U.S. Highway 59 from Houston northeast into Liberty County as Interstate 69.
It becomes the longest stretch of the long-debated I-69 in the state and joins a six-mile portion near Corpus Christi as the only pieces of the newest interstate in Texas.
Backers of the project for decades now have longed for a highway that traverses the state from the northeast, through the Houston area and then to South Texas.
The commission action came last week at a meeting in Corpus Christi.
Officials say new road signs soon will go up marking the newly designated piece of road as U.S. 59 and I-69.