More Major Road Projects Are Coming To Highway 59 In East Texas

Several major road construction projects are ongoing on Highway 59 from San Jacinto County through Nacogdoches County. These upgrades that are taking place in TxDOT's Lufkin District will eventually bring these roadway sections up to interstate standards.

Last week, I provided a detailed update on where we stand with 6 of these projects. Some of them are less than a year from completion, while it may be 2029 before one or two others are complete.

READ MORE: Updated Completion Dates for Several Highway 59 Projects

There are still many more construction projects that lie ahead for the eventual transition of Highway 59 to Interstate 69. Some of those undertakings are scheduled to start soon, some are still going through designing or feasibility studies, while others are in the 'infancy' stages and have hardly been discussed.

Let's take a look at 3 planned major projects that will be impacting travel in Livingston and northern Nacodoches County.

US 59/US 259 North Nacogdoches Interchange

After years of Highway 59 construction on the south side of Nacogdoches, get ready, north side, your turn is coming.

This $213 million project involves upgrading US 59 to a controlled-access roadway from Stallings Drive/Loop 224 to 1.3 miles north of a reconstructed US 59/US 259 interchange.

Here are the expected upgrades:

• Reconstructing US 59 mainlanes to provide four 12-foot travel lanes, two in each direction
• Constructing northbound and southbound frontage roads with two 12-foot lanes, four-foot inside shoulders, and 10-foot outside shoulders.
• Constructing shared-use paths along proposed US 59 frontage roads with sidewalks along US 259 throughout the project limits
• Reconfiguring the US 59/US 259 interchange to provide new flyover bridges for northbound US 59 and southbound US 259
• Widening along US 259 from US 59 to 1.1 miles north of US 59 and along business 59 from US 59 to 0.4 miles south of US 59 would be necessary to tie-in the proposed flyover bridges and accommodate the new interchange configuration. This work would include the addition of turn lanes, auxiliary lanes, raised medians, and six-foot-wide sidewalks.
• Adding a location for truck parking between Stallings Drive/Loop 224 and FM 343

Construction is expected to begin in 2029.

US 259 Upgrade, HWY 204 to Rusk County Line

I wouldn't be surprised to see this project done concurrently with the major US 59/259 improvements.

Detailed engineering plans should be completed near the end of this year, while the estimated date to take bids for construction is in summer 2026

This approximately seven-mile project includes:

• Widening US 259 to provide two 12-foot northbound travel lanes and two 12-foot southbound travel lanes, a 16-foot continuous two-way left-turn lane, and 10-foot shoulders
• Expanding the existing right-of-way by an average of 45 feet
• Reconfiguring the SH 204 intersection
• Adding right-turn lanes at FM 2664, FM 1087, and SH 204

US 59 Upgrade - Livingston

This will be a biggie. Initial estimates put the cost at $430 million, so don't be surprised to see a price tag over half a billion dollars when all the work is done.

The improvements will be developed as two projects, with the northernmost expected to start construction in 2032, while the southernmost project does not have construction funding identified.

Here's What Livingston Can Expect:

• Construction of cable barrier-divided mainlanes along US 59 that consist of four 12-foot-wide travel lanes, two in each direction, 6-foot-wide inside shoulders, and 12-foot-wide outside shoulders. Northbound and southbound US 59 frontage road construction would include two 12-foot-wide travel lanes with a 4-foot inside shoulder and a 10-foot outside shoulder. A 10-foot shared-use path would also be constructed along the proposed US 59 frontage roads.
• Reconfiguring the US 190, BUS 59 North, and BUS 59 South/FM 1988 interchanges
• New frontage road connections crossing over the Union Pacific Railroad just north of BUS 59/FM 1988 and just south of BUS 59 North

What's the projected year for every project (real or proposed) to finally be completed in the 12-county Lufkin/Nacogdoches area? I haven't been able to find the answer, but I would think that several decades would be a safe starting point.