by Chris Sasser,
Texas Transportation Institute
It’s hard not to get excited about the development possibilities of the North Texas Regional Airport (NTRA). Because economic downturn or not, with recent infrastructure improvements, plenty of room for expansion and an ideal location, the NTRA and surrounding corridors are ready to roll.
The NTRA is located midway between Denison and Sherman and was once home to Perrin Field, an Air Force base for 30 years until its closure in 1971. Part of the surrounding acreage and remaining buildings ore now used for a diverse assortment of 31 businesses that dot the grounds of the airport.
Crossroads Lead to the Airport
”There’s no question that this airport is an economic engine for Grayson County. That’s our focus,” explains Bill Retz, who serves as the project manager for marketing for the NTRA. ”The crossroads of FM 691 and U.S. 75, which is located a few miles from the airport, is becoming a major hub of development.”
Currently, a 252-bed state-of-the-art Texoma Medical Center is under construction at that intersection. Just west of that, across the highway, a Hilton Hotel and Convention Center is in the works. On the south side of FM 691, the city of Sherman recently invested four million dollars into infrastructure improvements.
”The U.S. 75 corridor is incredible,” says Jerdy Gary, chairman of the Grayson County Regional Mobility Authority (RMA). “Growth between the years 2000 and 2025 is forecast to increase by 800 percent and over a million new folks ore predicted to live on the corridor between Dallas and the Red River. We’re already feeling the pressure now. The traffic count is about 62,000 at this U.S. 75 and FM 691 intersection and is projected to increase to about 75,000 in the next five years. The State Highway 289 and toll road corridor project is going to be a significant reliever to 75. The major drivers of economic development ore the airport, hospital, a major highway and a regional workforce learning center. And we’re going to have them all.”
To be completed in July 2009, the SH 289 project that Gary mentions is under construction just a few yards outside the west gate of the airport. Plans are underway to construct water and sewer lines across the airport to provide utilities to the 200 acres of developable property on the west side of the airport and along the 289 corridors.
