By LYNETTE SOWELL
Cove Leader-Press
Last week, Governor Greg Abbott announced a new 10-year state transportation plan which totals more than $146 billion.
Among the projects green-lighted for funding is the widening of the U.S. 190 bypass around Copperas Cove.
The two-lane stretch of highway first opened in January 2015 and the widening to four lanes has been on the books for years, pending funding.
This long-awaited project will take the two-lane route to four lanes, at an estimated cost of $115 million.
It will include nearly six miles of roadway being expanded.
Jake Smith, Public Information Officer for the Texas Department of Transportation’s Waco District, said that it will be let for bid in November 2025.
The project start date is scheduled for the February/March 2026 timeframe.
The development of Interstate 14 is also going to push westward, after the U.S. 190 bypass is widening, into Lampasas County, which is part of the TxDOT’s Brownwood District.
Preparing U.S. Highway 190 to interstate highway standards is part of that process.
It will extend from the intersection of F.M. 2657/Coryell County Line, to F.M. 2808.
This future project involves dividing the highway with a 24-foot median and center concrete barriers and installing one-way frontage roads on each side of the highway.
Public meetings were held in June 2024 to provide information on the possible design alternatives.
Also, overpasses would be constructed over the intersection of Big Divide Road and the intersection at Great Hills Drive. One of the design alternatives includes a third overpass at the intersection of F.M. 2808.
The proposed project will require at least 40 acres of additional right of way (ROW) and potentially cause displacements, with the amount of required ROW being determined during the final design. It’s not known at this point what type of exits or access will come from the U.S. 190 bypass after it is widened from two lanes to four.
The recently announced TxDOT 2026 Unified Transportation Plan (UTP) puts funds into local roads and major congestion relief projects.
Other projects within the Waco District area in the 2026 UTP include $45 million for widening SS 298 (Franklin Avenue) in McLennan County from US 84 to SL 396 (Valley Mills Drive); and $223 million for the construction of the Hamilton relief route serving thru traffic on US 281 and SH 36.
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