Advocacy
Federal Funding Secured for I-66 in Kentucky
The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet’s 2026–2032 Six Year Highway Plan confirms that the Somerset Northern Bypass, explicitly labeled (I-66) in the plan, is moving forward with federal backing. The current phase carries more than $56 million in committed funding, drawn from a Congressional earmark, with construction and utility work programmed for 2026. Combined with earlier and adjoining sections of the bypass, total programmed investment in this stretch of the corridor through 2032 exceeds $200 million.
This progress reflects the continued advocacy of Congressman Hal Rogers (Kentucky District 5), who has identified expanding I-66 and the Somerset Northern Bypass as a transportation priority for southern and eastern Kentucky. As construction advances in Pulaski County, TransAmerica Corridor, Inc. continues to track funding milestones like this one across every state along the route, concrete evidence that Future I-66 remains an active, federally supported project moving toward completion.
Hal Rogers I-66
National Legislative Front: Federal Policy
The TransAmerica Corridor Alliance actively engages Congress and federal agencies (Federal Highway Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation) to ensure the Future Interstate Corridor is recognized as a national priority. Our efforts focus on funding mechanisms and formally completing the route numbering.
Segment Designation
Securing formal designation of the corridor as Future Interstate I-66 and I-50, clarifying the route’s eastern alignment and resolving its overlap with the existing I-66 designation near Washington, D.C. This effort will move forward through the TransAmerica Corridor I-66 and I-50 Numbering Act, to be introduced following passage of the BUILD America 250 Act, formally completing the route numbering Congress first authorized in the early 1990s.
Highway Formula Plan
Promoting the establishment of a Multi-State Future Interstate Highway Formula Program to ensure dedicated, long-term funding for the I-66 corridor’s construction. Working through the CAFI Coalition alongside the Alliance for I-69 Texas, Ports-to-Plains Alliance, and the I-14 Gulf Coast Strategic Highway Coalition, the TransAmerica Corridor Alliance is advocating for this formula funding mechanism to be incorporated into the BUILD America 250 Act, ensuring corridors with existing congressional High Priority designation have a reliable path to construction funding.
Interstate Feasibility Studies
An Interstate Feasibility Study is a critical federal policy tool because it establishes the technical, economic, and engineering foundation needed to advance a corridor to Interstate standards. It evaluates traffic, safety, environmental factors, and costs to create a data-driven roadmap for designation and funding eligibility. A corridor without this foundation stays conceptual, while one backed by it becomes eligible for sustained federal investment and delivery.
Building the Case in Washington, DC
The TransAmerica Corridor Alliance works directly with members of Congress and their staff to keep the corridor’s funding needs in front of decision-makers. With the BUILD America 250 Act up for reauthorization by September 30, 2026, we’re pressing for dedicated Future Interstate funding provisions that would give corridors like ours (and a dozen others authorized decades ago but never finished) a real path to completion. We are not asking Congress to create something new. We are asking Congress to finish what it already started.
That ask matters because, for over three decades, there has been no dedicated federal funding to plan and build Future Interstates, not a single congressionally authorized multi-state corridor has been completed in that time. We’re working with our coalition partners to get a Multi-State Future Interstate Highway Formula Funding Program written into the law, one that would direct resources to states based on unconstructed mileage and give them the flexibility to set their own priorities. The House version of the bill has already moved; now the work shifts to the Senate, where the next few months will determine whether that funding mechanism makes it into the final text.
Future I-66 + I-50
Securing the Corridor
TransAmerica Corridor, Inc. is the national voice of the designated route communities, and is the only national advocacy organization dedicated to expanding economic opportunities for the entire corridor.
For over three decades, TransAmerica Corridor, Inc. (and its predecessor, Interstate 66 Project, Inc.) has championed completion of the East-West TransAmerica Corridor — Congress’s High Priority Corridor 3, currently authorized as the Future I-66 connection from Hampton Roads and Washington DC through Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, and Kansas, with an active extension effort reaching west through Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, and California to the Pacific at San Diego. Our advocacy work exists to turn that congressional authorization (already statute since the early 1990s) into a finished, functioning interstate.
Corridor History
Strength in Coalition
The TransAmerica Corridor Alliance is a proud member of the CAFI (Congressionally Authorized Future Interstates) Coalition, standing alongside the Alliance for I-69 Texas, the I-27 Ports-to-Plains Alliance, the I-14 Gulf Coast Strategic Highway Coalition, and other corridor partners spanning more than 20 states. Our coalitions represent a unified voice for a national policy: when Congress designates a Future Interstate corridor, that corridor deserves a dedicated, reliable federal funding mechanism to get built — not another generation of waiting.
The National I-73/I-74/I-75 Corridor Association
The National I-73/I-74/I-75 Corridor Association is a membership organization dedicated to improving the economic success and quality of life across the six-state corridor—Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. We pursue the planning, permitting, funding, construction, and maintenance of Interstates 73, 74, and 75—highways of national and regional significance that facilitate interstate commerce, reduce congestion, and improve safety in an environmentally responsible way.
The I-27 Ports-to-Plains Alliance
The Ports-to-Plains Alliance is a grassroots, non-profit coalition of communities, businesses, and advocates working to expand and enhance transportation infrastructure from Texas to North Dakota — and ultimately, into Canada and Mexico. Our mission is to promote the development of a modern, efficient, and safe Future Interstate Highway corridor that drives economic growth, delivers tourism, serves supply chains, strengthens national and international trade, supports agriculture and energy production, and improves quality of life across America’s Heartland.
The I-14 Gulf Coast Coalition
Over the past two decades the I-14 Coalition has worked to lay the groundwork for this milestone. The coalition created the concept of a new east west interstate and a broad corridor that would include interstate connection between key military facilities and important energy production regions to key strategic seaports.
Alliance for I-69 Texas
Since the Alliance was formed in 1994 it has provided sustained leadership through the tireless efforts of hundreds of volunteers. Among them are the five individuals who have served as Alliance Board Chair over those years — Louis Bronaugh, former Mayor of Lufkin; Helen Walker, former County Judge of Victoria County; Robert Eckels, former County Judge of Harris County; John Thompson, former County Judge of Polk County;Loyd Neal, former County Judge of Nueces County and former Mayor of Corpus Christi; and the current chairman, Polk County Judge Sydney Murphy.
I-11 Coalition
The I-11 Coalition stands as a collective effort of business, civic, and community leaders united in advocating for the development of Interstate 11 and advancing the future of America’s infrastructure. Our mission is to champion robust and sustainable infrastructure that safeguards the economic and security interests of our nation.
17 Forward 86
Gov. Hochul on Oct. 5, 2022 announced the start of the draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for Route 17 – a key step forward in the project to convert the corridor to Interstate 86.
Earning Endorsements One Community at a Time
Real advocacy is built from the ground up. The TransAmerica Corridor Alliance has secured letters of support and formal endorsements from city councils, county commissions, chambers of commerce, state legislators, and regional economic development organizations across the corridor — proof that this is not a Missouri project or a Kentucky project, but a national one with deep local roots. Every endorsement strengthens our case in Washington and signals to private investment partners that this corridor has the public backing to move forward.
Municipalities
Counties
Chambers
Legislators
Economic Development Organizations
Corporations
Partnering with State and Regional Agencies
On the ground, advocacy means showing up. TransAmerica Corridor, Inc. works hand-in-hand with the Missouri and Illinois Departments of Transportation, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, and regional planning organizations to keep near-term, fundable projects (like the Ozark Parkway connector in southeast Missouri) moving while the larger Tiered Environmental Impact Statement process advances. We support every FY2027 BUILD Grant opportunity, every Planning and Environmental Linkages (PEL) study, and every regional plan that brings the corridor closer to reality, segment by segment.
Partners
A Coast-To-Coast Mission
From the Port of Norfolk to the Port of San Diego, TransAmerica Corridor, Inc. is actively engaging mayors, city managers, port authorities, and regional chambers to build the same coalition of support in the West that we’ve built in the Midwest and East. Completing the TransAmerica Corridor will connect two oceans, unlock freight efficiency for the nation’s heartland, and deliver the kind of economic opportunity that only a finished interstate can provide.
Future Interstate Corridors
JOIN THE EFFORT
It doesn’t matter if you’re an elected official, a business leader, or a resident along the corridor, your voice matters. Contact us to learn how you can support the campaign to finish the East-West TransAmerica Corridor — congressionally authorized, regionally endorsed, and long overdue.
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