Ross helped secure $1 million for the continued expansion of Highway 71/Interstate 49 between Doddridge, and the Arkansas-Louisiana state line. Once completed, the I-49 Corridor will provide a direct route between Winnipeg, Canada, and New Orleans, Louisiana, traveling the entire Western side of Arkansas.

“I am proud to have helped secure this vital funding for I-49 which will provide jobs and create economic opportunities across Arkansas,” Ross said. “Completing I-49 remains a top priority for me, and this funding is another step in the process of seeing this goal to completion, which will help spur commerce and economic development throughout the entire Western stretch of Arkansas.”

The Conference Report passed the full U.S. House of Representatives Wednesday and is expected to pass the Senate later this year. Ross commended Arkansas’s Senators Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor, for their work in the Senate to help secure this funding in the final Conference Report.

Upon passage of the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Conference Report in the Senate, the measure will then be sent to the President which he has threatened to veto.

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