TxDOT to Approve $600 Million in Statewide Safety Projects

Deck: The Texas Transportation Commission is set to approve a plan that will invest more than $600 million in 645 highway improvements projects that are expected to reduce traffic crashes and save lives.

March TxDOT Highway Letting Dates

The Texas Department of Transportation has scheduled its next highway letting for March 8 and 9. Seventy projects are approved to be let with an estimated total of $337,996,503.

A TxDOT report said projects may be added, advanced or delayed as deemed necessary.

State Announces $600 Million in Highway Safety Funds

Governor Rick Perry recently announced that the Texas Department of Transportation is set to approve a plan that will invest more than $600 million to improve safety on Texas roads. The plan is part of a $3 billion bond package passed by Texas voters in September 2003.

"The Texas Transportation Commission is poised to approve a plan to invest more than $600 million in 645 highway safety projects across the state that will make our roads safer for motorists, reduce accidents and save hundreds of lives," Perry said.

The funds will be used for four major types of safety projects identified by the Texas Department of Transportation as having the greatest potential to save lives:

· A widening of nearly 1,600 mi. of narrow two-lane roadways to at least 24 ft. The projects will focus on rural areas of the state. Making these roads wider will help reduce the number of crashes caused by cars running off the road, as well as the number of head-on collisions caused by vehicles crossing the center line.

· Installing 740 mi. of concrete or cable safety barriers in the medians of divided highways to reduce the number of head-on collisions.

· Constructing left turn lanes at 171 highway intersections across the state to significantly reduce the number of rear-end crashes each year.

· Building 10 critically needed highway overpasses that will not only improve traffic flow, but will also lower the number and severity of accidents.

The safety improvements will cover more than 2,300 mi. of Texas highways and could save an estimated 1,800 lives and prevent 21,000 injuries over the next 20 years, according to the independent Texas Transportation Institute's Center for Transportation Safety.

Perry noted that every year, an aging transportation infrastructure contributes to vehicle accidents that exact an enormous cost on motorists, their families and the Texas economy. "The state share of gas taxes paid by motorists barely keeps up with maintenance demands, and unfortunately Texas continues to be shortchanged on transportation funding at the federal level, ranking 51st on our rate of return for federal gas tax dollars," Perry said.

Perry noted that for the first time in history, Texas is able to use its bonding authority to dramatically accelerate the construction and completion of transportation projects across the state. "While improving and expanding the current system is important, we cannot neglect a long-term vision, especially since our population will double in a few short decades. That's why I have proposed the Trans-Texas Corridor," Perry said.

"The Trans-Texas Corridor will put Texas on the map as the leader in addressing gridlock," Perry said. "And the $600 million in funding we are announcing today will allow the state to quickly complete work on high priority safety improvements within the next three years, meaning we will make the existing infrastructure safer even while we fund new corridors."

LAN Awarded Austin's Commuter Rail Management Contract

The Capital Metro Board of Directors recently entered into an $8 million professional services contract with Lockwood, Andrews and Newnam Inc. of Houston for program management services. Lockwood, Andrews and Newnam consultants will work under Capital Metro's project management team that will oversee the implementation of projects under the All Systems Go Long-Range Transit Plan over the next four years. The consulting firm will provide staffing and technical support in the management of the projects including the planning, design and construction contracts and the procurement of railcars for the implementation of commuter rail between downtown Austin and Leander.

Projects will include upgrades to the existing railroad tracks, building extra tracks to allow trains to pass each other, and the construction of train stations.

Recent transportation consulting projects LAN has undertaken include the Northwest Line light rail for Dallas Area Rapid Transit, which opened in November. For DART, LAN served as a general engineering consultant for the build-out of DART's Light Rail Transit System.