Editorials

2008 TPA Better Newspaper Contest

First Place D3

Henderson Daily News

Getting their attention

Transportation infrastructure plays a substantial role in the economic well-being of communities. That's no different in Texas' large urban centers or rural communities like Henderson.

Last week we learned from a national study that commuters in Dallas spend about 58 hours a year on average stuck in traffic, an astonishing amount of time that ranks the North Texas city fifth-worst in the U.S.

Thankfully, traffic congestion in Henderson is relegated to prolonged waits at traffic lights located on U.S. 79 during morning and afternoon commutes. Of more importance to drivers in Rusk County is the pounding local highways receive from 18-wheelers moving through Henderson with their heavy loads.

Many of those trucks are making Henderson a destination, but a large number are simply passing through to other destinations. An extension of the city's Loop 571 from U.S. Highway 79 South to U.S. 259 South could significantly reduce those trips through Henderson's main business district.

But Dallas' traffic congestion (as well as Houston's, which ranked seventh on the list) illustrates the hurdles Rusk County faces in securing funding to extend its loop from U.S. Highway 79 South to U.S. 259. It should come as no surprise the majority of our highway dollars will be absorbed by Texas' urban centers, which contain both large numbers of taxpayers and voters.

That's why it's so encouraging that Rusk County commissioners designated $400,000 in their new budget for fiscal year 2007-08 to serve as a down payment to fund construction of the proposed stretch of highway. The county's decision appears to have placed the loop extension (estimated by TxDOT to cost about $28-$30 million) for planning and construction.

The importance of the county's decision was not lost on John Cloutier, Rusk County's representative on the Northeast Texas Regional Mobility Authority. "The county judge and the commissioners — when the budget is approved — will have made a down payment on our loop," he said.

But Rusk County should be commended for its investment in Henderson's transportation needs. For now, it appears the only way for rural communities to capture TxDOT's attention.