Potential new interstate could run through North Dakota

BISMARCK, N.D. (KFYR) - There are plans to build a new interstate, named I-27, that will run through the middle of the country, from the Texas Basin all the way to Canada. It will branch off into North Dakota along the Theodore Roosevelt Expressway.

Congress earmarked the funds in 2022, although there’s no definitive timetable to start construction.

But how will the new four-lane interstate benefit North Dakota’s economy and its people?

“We produce a lot of things we don’t consume here, so giving our ag producers and our energy producers more options to get their products to market and lower that transportation cost means they get to keep a little more money in their pocket and it doesn’t get chewed up in expenses,” said North Dakota Congressman Kelly Armstrong.

North Dakota has received a $55 million federal grant toward the project and is seeking more funding.

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