Inside scoop: Texas Transportation Commission June 2024

June 27, 2024

By Laura Butterbrodt

AUSTIN – Here’s what the Texas Transportation Commission discussed and approved at its meeting on June 27, 2024.

Unified Transportation Program

The Commissioners heard an update about the 2025 Unified Transportation Program (UTP), which will propose a historic $104.2 billion in total funding estimates. TxDOT Transportation Planning and Programming Director Humberto Gonzalez, Jr. presented the 10-year transportation development guide

The 2025 UTP will be $3.6 billion larger than the 2024 UTP and will also establish the record-high total 10-year estimated investment in projects of $147.9 billion. This will be the second year in a row the UTP exceeds $100 billion.

Among many other important project investments, the 2025 UTP will propose authorization of an additional $1.9 billion in funding for Texas Clear Lanes projects to relieve congestion and an additional $1.7 billion in funding for Urban and Rural Connectivity projects to invest in safe, reliable and efficient travel on statewide and rural corridors across Texas.

TxDOT will hold a virtual public meeting at 2 p.m. CDT on July 2 to learn about the draft 2025 UTP. The public is invited to offer public comments July 5 through Aug. 5. To learn more about different ways to comment, visit the UTP Public Involvement webpage.

The Texas Transportation Commission approves the UTP annually in accordance with Texas state law at its August commission meeting and publishes the approved UTP on TxDOT.gov.

Public Transportation

The Commission awarded nearly $84 million in state and Federal Transit Administration program funds for public transportation programs across the state. The grants will go to 35 rural transit district programs, 23 small urban area programs and nine large urban area programs.

This funding will help transit agencies improve facilities and upgrade vehicles, and in some cases will assist in the expansion of services. 

Legislative Appropriations Request

The Commissioners also heard an update to the Fiscal Year 2026-2027 Legislative Appropriations Request, which is the amount of funding TxDOT will request from the upcoming Texas Legislature. The draft LAR capital budget totals $982.4 million for purposes including information technology, building construction and rehabilitation and acquisition of capital equipment and items. 

In addition, the LAR may include approximately $1.6 billion exceptional items that do not fall within set funding sources. These items include $1.24 billion for maritime investment, $200 million for rail support and development, $114 million for aviation maintenance and improvement, and $29 million for public transit programming.

More components and updates to the 2026-27 Legislative Appropriations Request will be presented at the July and August Commission meetings.

Annual Highway Safety Plan

The Commission approved 382 grants worth $103.4 million for the Highway Safety Plan, which goes toward education and enforcement to help reduce crashes on Texas roads. Funded safety programs include educational campaigns for anti-impaired driving, speed control, seat belt wearing, pedestrian and bike safety, work zone awareness and motorcycle safety. The funding is an increase of $7.5 million from last year. 

Contracts

The Commission awarded the following letting amounts for highway construction and maintenance contracts:

• $1.1 billion for 113 highway improvement projects.
• $88.4 million for 81 routine maintenance projects.
• $1.2 million for the construction and rehabilitation of one building project.

Aviation

The Commission awarded $28.7 million in grant funding to 17 airport projects. The awards include federal non-primary entitlement, federal apportionment, Infrastructure and Investment Jobs Act and state grant funding.

Traffic Operations

The Commission approved amendments to the Texas Administrative Code to establish a Variable Speed Limits Program. The new section will allow TxDOT to temporarily lower the speed limit on some designated roadways by a maximum of 10 mph from the existing limit under certain conditions, including inclement weather, congestion or road construction. 

The program will begin with road segments tied to the TxDOT Intelligent Transportation System to ensure cameras can verify conditions, as well as log when and where speed reductions occur and return to normal conditions.

The commissioners also approved amendments to implement an Acknowledgement Program for the Safety Service Patrol Program. This will allow TxDOT to publicly accept and acknowledge donations to area safety service patrols, known in some parts of Texas as HERO (Highway Emergency Response Operator) patrols. In return, companies who donate can display their name, logo or image on the back panel of patrol trucks.