Advocates of the Gulf Coast Strategic Highway subsequently proposed extending I-14 to I-10 near Fort Stockton and the junction of US 277 and I-10 near Sonora, Texas.
On November 15, 2021, President Joe Biden signed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), which designated the components of the Gulf Coast Strategic Highway corridor between Brady, Texas (including forks to I-20 in Midland and I-10 in Pecos County, Texas), and Augusta, Georgia, as High Priority Corridors of the National Highway System, forming a future extension of I-14.
The highway was named in honor of the Fourteenth Amendment, as the route would traverse the southern "Black Belt" region that formed the heart of the slave-based plantation economy of the 19th century.
US Representative Charlie Norwood of Georgia suggested the highway could be extended to Austin, Texas, in the west and Grand Strand, South Carolina, in the east.
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has no funding identified beyond the Phase II studies to support long-range planning, environmental review, or construction which must be initiated at the state or regional level with any further direction from Congress.
The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) also conducted the US 190/IH-10 Feasibility Study in 2011, which concluded that it was justified to upgrade US 190 to a divided four-lane arterial highway based on traffic projections to 2040, but that upgrading US 190 to a full freeway through Texas was only justified if the 14th Amendment Highway is actually constructed from Louisiana to Georgia.
The I-14 concept became a reality when House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure members Brian Babin and Blake Farenthold authored and introduced the amendment to the 2015 FAST Act that created I-14 that generally follows US 190 in Texas.
The official Future I-14 designation[6] was approved when the FAST Act was signed into law on December 4, 2015, by then President Barack Obama.
[13][14][15] In August 2021, senators Ted Cruz of Texas and Raphael Warnock of Georgia introduced an amendment to the American Jobs Plan that would designate a corridor of I-14 to connect their respective states.
[18] This amendment was included in the final bill approved by the House and Senate and signed by President Joe Biden on November 15, 2021.
[27] The IIJA designates an extended future I-14 corridor that would encompass the original "14th Amendment Highway" and "Gulf Coast Strategic Highway" concepts, including the following designated High Priority Corridors:[28][29][30] TxDOT is currently in the planning stages of construction on the rest of the route in the state[33] and started requesting public feedback in July 2023 to identify issues and opportunities along the proposed route.
In July 2023, the Parsons Corporation (PSN) announced that it had been selected by TXDOT's Waco District to design the I-14 extension to Rogers as well as improve I-14/US 190/I-35 system interchange.
[51] Currently, TxDOT and the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (LaDOTD) are working to replace the two-lane Burr's Ferry Bridge, which marks the eastern and western termini of Texas State Highway 63 (SH 63) and Louisiana Highway 8 (LA 8) respectively, over the Sabine River at the Texas-Louisiana state line.
[55] In January 2024, the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) concluded a study that deemed that the I-14 project would not have a good return on investment.
The report indicated that truck traffic on the route would be significantly less than on other interstates in the state, making it less beneficial since the initial cost estimate for building the freeway is around $5 billion.