Texas Approves Plan that Calls for $104B for Roads and Highways

Last week the Texas Transportation Commission approved the annual update to its 10-year unified transportation program. The plan calls for a record-breaking $104.17 billion for construction and maintenance of roads and highways across the state and just $45.2 million for public transportation, according to an article from Jalopnik. “Houston alone is getting $9.9 billion for modernization of local roads,” reports Lawrence Hodge, including major work on Interstate 45 and Interstate 10.

“While some of the projects that are getting funded are good, like expanding bus access for disabled seniors and rural transit assistance programs, the plans for these programs aren’t as detailed as the highway plans are. Bicycle and public transit plans are merely mentioned in the budget, even with things like bicycling and walking activity increasing in Texas 33 percent from 2019 to 2022,” Hodge writes. 

According to the Houston Chronicle, which broke the story, “Combined with development and other maintenance that falls outside the typical sources of money for the Texas Department of Transportation, the [UTP] includes $147.87 billion in work on roads.” The Chronicle reports that those totals exceed the 2023 approval of $100.5 billion and a total spending plan of $142.3 billion.