TxDOT to start construction on $242M highway to reduce Starr County traffic jams

After more than two decades of planning, construction is underway on a 17-mile stretch of a new four-lane divided highway, State Loop 195, to enable traffic to flow more freely across Starr County. 

The Texas Department of Transportation expects the new $242 million roadway to run parallel to U.S. 83 and reduce truck congestion in the communities of Roma, Escobares, Garceno, Villareales, and Rio Grande City. 

And instead, route commercial traffic to the north, closer to Starr County Airport. 

TxDOT estimated that the new state highway would divert about 7,000 out of 30,200 vehicles traveling between Farm to Market Road 755 and Farm to Market Road 3167 away from U.S. 83 each day – a 19% decline.