Last year, your Chamber facilitated the approval of Proposition 7 by hosting a press conference with Texas House of Representatives Speaker Joe Straus supporting transportation funding measures. Last week, the Texas Transportation Commission approved the Texas Department of Transportation plans to improve drive times and reduce costs to Texas drivers through a $1.3 billion effort focused on delivering projects at an accelerated pace that addresses gridlock in some of the state’s most congested areas.
“The major metro areas of Texas – Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio – represent more than two-thirds of the state’s population and 97 percent of the state’s most congested roads,” said Texas Transportation Commissioner J. Bruce Bugg, Jr., who was appointed by the commission to lead this statewide effort.
Now, construction projects to enhance existing efforts and address gridlock on the state highway system will begin. The projects, which add up to more than 42 miles, include interchanges, flyovers and congestion relief efforts at some of the state’s worst chokepoints. They will be funded using $1.3 billion made available through ending the use of diversions of highway money by other agencies.
“I am grateful to Gov. Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, Speaker Joe Straus and the Texas Legislature for making the diversion funds available for highway projects,” said Commissioner Bugg. “TxDOT is focusing on using this funding to provide Texas drivers relief in an expedited manner. By making these improvements on an accelerated schedule, TxDOT will save $457 million versus building those roads in future years.”
“For years we’ve been committed to addressing congestion, and this year we’re getting a jump start on that part of our core mission,” said TxDOT Executive Director James Bass. “As the severity of congestion in the Lone Star State continues to grow, we are committed to delivering projects many Texans need and deserve to reduce the amount of time they spend in traffic.”
