Funds tentatively approved by the Unified Texas Transportation Commission will help the Atlanta District of the Texas Department of Transportation work on projects for its 10-year plan.
"The UTP is a 10-year plan that is approved annually by the Transportation Commission. It is does not guarantee funding for the projects, only giving authorization for the districts to work on the development of the projects according to anticipated funding. It's a planning tool for the future," said Marcus Sandifer, spokesman for the Atlanta District of TxDOT, discussing the Unified Transportation Program.
The $70 billion worth of projects to help TxDOT meet the state's growing transportation demands is the largest of its kind in the agency's history that addresses capacity, maintenance and safety needs around the state.
Sandifer said the projects in the plan are mostly safety projects, like signals, texturized shoulders and centerlines, lighting, etc., and added capacity projects like adding traffic lanes.
"Most are safety projects but there could be some larger projects down the line," he said.
Some Bowie County projects include work on the bridge at Bassett Creek on U.S. Highway 67, improving the traffic signal and pedestrian crosswalk at the FM 989 intersection and texturizing shoulders on several roads, including FM 2149 and FM 2516.
The funding would not include all projects that TxDOT conducts, such as resurfacing and rehabilitation projects, Sandifer said.
The 10-year plan, developed with extensive public input, targets congestion in the state's most populated areas and includes projects to better connect the major interstates in rural areas with local roads and highways. Also, outside urban areas, the program calls for enhancing and completing interstate highways and addressing the continuing needs within the energy sector and along hurricane evacuation routes.
"The actions today by the Texas Transportation Commission represent a historic investment in our state's infrastructure," Gov. Greg Abbott said in a prepared statement. "Texans have sent a loud and clear message that they are tired of sitting in traffic, and this funding plan will significantly address safety, maintenance, connectivity and congestion on our crowded highways. The plan presented by the commission will allow Texas roads to keep pace with our population growth, provide much-needed congestion relief for working Texans and put the Lone Star State well on its way towards having a first-in-class highway system for decades to come."
With more than $70 billion in total funding, the 2017 UTP represents a significant increase from last year's 10-year plan, which included more than $33 billion worth of projects. The bulk of the additional funding will come from legislative and voter-approved initiatives to allocate portions of oil and gas taxes, sales taxes and other taxes to the state highway fund. Ending the practice of appropriating state highway funds to agencies other than TxDOT and the passage of long-term federal transportation legislation also contributed to the additional funding.
The new funding in the 2017 UTP is largely allocated into program areas that address safety, maintenance, congestion and rural connectivity needs. It includes funding for all 25 TxDOT districts and 25 metropolitan planning areas throughout the state.