AMA: State Highway 19 construction

By mvhannigan

AMA stands for “Ask Michael Anything,” and is a chance for readers to ask reporter Michael V. Hannigan questions about Henderson County. Ask questions through our Facebook Page or our website.

QUESTION: Reader Chris Schwantes asked about road construction on State Highway 19 south of Athens, specifically: What is being done, when will it be finished, and why didn’t it stretch all the way to the current four lanes south of Athens (or where).

SOURCE: Texas Department of Transportation Public Information Officer Larry Krantz.

ANSWER: I will go through this point-by-point, but I think the most important thing I learned is that the project is not a widening for more capacity. The state is simply adding passing lanes in various locations.

And that pretty well answers the “what” question: adding passing lanes. Krantz said that the project is not really designed for added capacity (or a full-fledged road widening), but just for adding passing lanes “where we have the right-of-way.” That might be the reason you were having trouble determining what they were doing, Chris.

The “when” is the fall of 2014.

As for the “where,” Krantz said from south of the Koon Creek Bridge to the Anderson County Line. He said the reason the project does not extend farther north (to the four lane portion) is because the state probably didn’t have enough money to work on the bridge.