TxDOT Lufkin takes on biggest project ever with Corrigan Relief Route

NACOGDOCHES, Texas (KTRE) - Drivers through Corrigan will be getting some relief as TxDOT will start construction on a road to bypass the town and avoid red lights and railroad crossings.

The Corrigan Relief Route will be the project with the biggest budget that TxDOT Lufkin has ever taken on.

TxDOT Lufkin Public Information Officer Rhonda Oaks said the $172.8 million project will span 6.3 miles, ranging from three miles north of US Highway 287 to three miles south of Highway 287.

“It has been in the works for a long time. It’s one of the biggest projects, money wise, that the Lufkin District has ever been approved for,” Oaks said.

The project is expected to take six years to complete and will include overpasses to bypass Corrigan, which is heavily traveled, according to Oaks.

“There won’t be a red light. They won’t have to go through Corrigan and stop at a red light,” Oaks said. “They will go out and around the bypass on the relief route of the west side of Corrigan and there won’t be a stop at all.”

The Corrigan Relief Route has been in the works off and on since the late 1990s but stopped due to budgetary concerns. However, in 2012 the project was resumed and considered a top priority, according to Oaks. Construction on the new roadway itself is expected to begin as early as November.

“To finally see that project funded, our commission sign off on it, and pre-construction meeting held last week in Lufkin, and to see that equipment start moving in out there, it’s very exciting,” Oaks said.

Copyright 2022 KLTV/KTRE. All rights reserved.