In the next few years there will be tens of thousands, likely more, additional motorists on the roads of Port Arthur and the Sabine Pass area as two liquefied natural gas facilities kick off.

This means the city and Texas Department of Transportation should be working together now, before the construction begins, to deal with the multiple issues they will soon face.

Where will the influx of workers live?

While we would love for all of the workers to be local residents, we know this is not possible. And while there are a number of hotels in the Port Arthur area, they stay pretty much full and some say the room prices are climbing.

Full hotels may sound great, but it is actually a double-edged sword. Yes, there are people coming in and staying in the city, spending money at our stores and restaurants, but where will visitors book a room?

What if you have family coming in and there is the need for a hotel room?

Jefferson County Pct. 3 Commissioner Michael “Shane” Sinegal was approached by a group with ideas for a man camp/cruise line to be docked in Sabine Pass to house upwards of 2,000 people.

The cruise line would offer, according to a local businessman spearheading the project, numerous amenities including three meals a day, a weight room, swimming pool, movie theater and more.

The idea of man camps is not new. There is Moss Lake Village in Hackberry, La., for workers at the Cameron LNG facility. This is a land-based site that touts 1,900 beds with 1,500 daily meals served and 2,600 parking spaces.

A setup like this could be a viable idea, in addition to the cruise line, as a way to house workers.

If workers are housed in Sabine Pass this means less workers on the roughly 11-mile span of roadway connecting Sabine Pass to the intersection of Texas 87 and Texas 82 — the only road in and out of Sabine Pass.

A section of the highway near Keith Lake is being moved courtesy of Port Arthur LNG, but that’s just a small section in the larger scheme of things.

This is where TxDOT should chime in with roadway ideas. Should there be an industrial accident, how would the residents of Sabine Pass and its workforce leave?

This are already traffic issues as the current set of workers go in and out of the community that has one main intersection and one gas station/convenience store.

With combined total investments of more than $10 billion for the LNG facilities and the tens of thousands of workers who will descend on the area, now is the time to plan.

Mary Meaux is a reporter with The Port Arthur News. She can be reached at mary.meaux@panews.com.