From Vidalia to Toledo Bend Reservoir

Transportation has always been the key to the economic viability of a community. More than 300 years ago The EI Camino Real was a heavily traveled trail containing a network of military forts and communication. The location of the route directly influenced the establishment of many towns and today's network of highways. 

Today this route, U.S. Highway 84 from Vidalia to Oarence and La. Highway 6 from Clarence to Toledo Bend Reservoir, continues to provide economic well being to small communities in six parishes. Business leaders along this corridor have watched changing traffic patterns with increasing concern. U.S. Highway 84, once a dominant two-lane traffic conduit, has been relegated to a secondary route due to the construction of the Interstate system. With safer high speed alternatives available, two-lane highway connectors are being abandoned by existing industry and not considered an asset for attracting new industry or conducive to the nationally booming tourism industry.

Mexico and the State of Texas have committed to the expansion and preservation of the Old San Antonio Road (EI Camino Real) and Mississippi has almost completed the four-laning of U.S. Highway 84. The State of Louisiana currently budgets 10 million dollars to attract tourists to the state. Without this project, rural Central Louisiana could be the ultimate loser in tourism dollars.

More than 115,000 people live along this 172 mile corridor comprised of Concordia, Catahoula, LaSalle, Winn, Natchitoches and Sabine Parishes. These parishes have seen population decreases from 6 percent in Winn to 34 percent in Sabine during the past ten years. Additionally, the average per capita income along the corridor is $8,441, well below the state average of $12,923 and the national average of $17,592. Louisiana ranks 49th in the nation and the corridor ranks low in the state. Communities have also seen more than 330 retail establishments close their doors between 1982 and 1987, according to the latest business census statistics.

The Miss-La-Tex East/West Corridor Commission was established in the Louisiana Legislature in early 1992. By Act 260 of the Louisiana Legislature in 1997, the name was changed to "El Camino East-West Corridor Commission.  Our mission is to promote economic development and tourism along a four-lane from Brunswick, Georgia to near El Paso, Texas, to relieve the heavy flow of traffic of 1-20 and 1-10 and preserve the historic significance of the corridor. The officers of the commission are James (Jim) Pratt, President (Sabine); Hyram Copeland, Vice President (Concordia); Bobby Williams Secretary/Treasurer (Sabine).