2023 TxDOT UTP

[MaxConcrete]

The draft UTP became available today. This is TxDOT's project funding plan for the next 10 years.
https://www.txdot.gov/inside-txdot/division/transportation-planning/utp.html

It appears that TxDOT is holding back some available funds to cover inflation increases. See pages 11 and 17. It looks like only $6.175 billion in new funding is being authorized per page 11. (But I don't know if this is all categories of new funding).
https://ftp.txdot.gov/pub/txdot/tpp/utp/2023-utp-public-meeting-with-speaker-notes.pdf

And the big winner for new funding is: Dallas-Fort Worth
And the very big loser for new funding is: Houston (This is surely related to the NHHIP controversy)

Here is a non-comprehensive listing of highlights

Austin
I-35 Central section funding increased $429 million to $3.988 billion
I-35 Drainage Tunnel: new funding  $208 million
I-35 Round Rock: new funding $92 million (partial funding only, project total $200 million)

I-69
Refugio Bypass: new funding $464 million (Yikes! this is expensive)
Riviera bypass: funding increased $25 million to $128 million
Marshall, I-369: $220 million new funding for south side of bypass and adjacent I-20
US 281 (I-69C), upgrade to freeway north of Edinburg: $210 million new funding
US 77 (I-69E) King Ranch freeway upgrade: $45 million new funding

Observation: most new funding is in South Texas, with only the Marshall bypass getting significant funding in East Texas

DFW
US 380 and 399 Freeways: $660 million added to existing authorizations. $417 million remains unfunded on McKinney bypass
I-30, I-635 to lake: $220 million new funding
US 80, east of I-30: $324 million new funding
Fort Worth I-35W widen from SH 114 to I-35 Denton: $188 million new funding ($188 million remains unfunded)
SH 114 Main Lanes, I-35W to Roanoke: $71 million new funding
I-30 Arlington: new funding $75 million
I-820 Southeast connector: new funding $486 million (this is an add-on to the $1.6 billion project underway)
I-820 Southeast connector: new funding $100 million for I-20 (partial funding, total cost $200 million)
US 81/287 freeway upgrade (north Fort Worth): $124 million new funding

Observation: I-30 East corridor (east of I-45, $1.05 billion) NOT funded

El Paso I-10 downtown: $298 million new funding  ($446 million of $759 million total cost remains unfunded)

Houston
NHHIP: minimal funding changes, $30 million added
Houston I-10 San Jacinto River Bridge: $170 million new funding ($341 million total cost, $171 million unfunded)

San Antonio
I-35E Comal and Guadalupe County: $216 million new funding
I-35E San Antonio: $325 million new funding
US 90 freeway upgrade west of 1604: $171 million new funding
LP 1604 expansion at US 281: $136 million new funding

Waco
I-35: $131 million new funding (partial funding on $263 million project)

[jgb191]

No indication of a bypass around the town of Odem??  Wondering why the planned upgrade of I-69E from the I-37 interchange is stopping just south of Odem?

Also find it quite odd that the Riviera bypass would end at the county line.  Maybe I'm missing something.  Is the bypass supposed to merge back to the normal US-77 route before crossing into Kennedy County?

[MaxConcrete]

No indication of a bypass around the town of Odem??  Wondering why the planned upgrade of I-69E from the I-37 interchange is stopping just south of Odem?

Also find it quite odd that the Riviera bypass would end at the county line.  Maybe I'm missing something.  Is the bypass supposed to merge back to the normal US-77 route before crossing into Kennedy County?

The Odem bypass study has just started. So funding is not expected until a recommended alternative is defined, which will take a couple years.
https://www.txdot.gov/inside-txdot/get-involved/about/hearings-meetings/corpus-christi/042822.html

I drove from Houston to Corpus last weekend, and Odem is the second worst slowdown point, with the long Refugio slowdown being the worst.

For the Riviera bypass, I think the "77" route marker on the UTP map hides the south end of the bypass. This document shows the full bypass inside Kleberg county.
https://ftp.txdot.gov/pub/txdot/get-involved/crp/revised-rtip/012021-presentation.pdf

[CoreySamson]

Hey, it looks like TxDOT is actually completing the Crosby Freeway! Plus it looks like they're gearing up to build the Alvin Freeway. Not many other positives for Houston district, though.

Also the highlights for Laredo District concretely says that I-2 and I-27 will end up going through its borders. That's the most official news on the future western and southern termini of those projects that I've seen.

[Bobby5280]

There's not much in the Wichita Falls district. The widening projects for I-35 are the biggest items. It does look kind of like they might get rid of some of the at-grade driveways on US-287 in Wichita Falls immediately West of the I-44 interchange.

It looks like TX DOT will build a small bit of freeway on US-287 just North of the US-380 interchange in Decatur.

[jgb191]

I drove from Houston to Corpus last weekend, and Odem is the second worst slowdown point, with the long Refugio slowdown being the worst.

Ironically, a lot of objection about the bypass in Refugio.  While the US-77 traffic is a money-maker for the town, traffic is only expected to get way worse in the coming years making moving around a nightmare.  And just like every other town with a bypass around it, businesses can always relocate on the service roads of the interstate.  Plus I'm sure there will be several adventurous drivers that may want to explore the inner town for local diners like I occasionally have done myself.

[Thegeet]

Refugio residents fear the devaluation of property from displacement and the vanishing of the tax base or something.

[bwana39]

I drove from Houston to Corpus last weekend, and Odem is the second worst slowdown point, with the long Refugio slowdown being the worst.

Ironically, a lot of objection about the bypass in Refugio.  While the US-77 traffic is a money-maker for the town, traffic is only expected to get way worse in the coming years making moving around a nightmare.  And just like every other town with a bypass around it, businesses can always relocate on the service roads of the interstate.  Plus I'm sure there will be several adventurous drivers that may want to explore the inner town for local diners like I occasionally have done myself.

No, the businesses don't relocate. They are displaced by others (usually regional or national players). Yes the tax base will remain and probably even expand, but the current businesses owners by large are left in the cold. You get pushback when the local business owners control the rhetoric as opposed to the (commercial) real estate brokers and investors who will benefit from the property around the bypass controlling the rhetoric.

[Bobby5280]

Refugio residents fear the devaluation of property from displacement and the vanishing of the tax base or something.

Anyone can drive US-77 through Refugio and feel like refusing to stop. It's not exactly a postcard-picturesque place. It doesn't look like there are any higher income neighborhoods. Very likely the demographics are those common to many other small towns: an aging population whose children grow up only to leave town.

If some residents there are trying to protect something, like a property tax base they feel is diminishing, then putting up road blocks against an Interstate highway wouldn't really make a lot of sense. A new highway closely bypassing Refugio would open up a lot of space for commercial development along its frontage roads. Those locations are magnets for service businesses like restaurants and convenience stores. Those freeway locations also attract new industry. That can mean better paying jobs, which can help stem losses of young residents. And it means a boost to the local tax base.

TX DOT is eventually going to build out I-69 in some fashion. They can build a bypass around the edge of Refugio. Or they can choose an alignment farther away from Refugio, which would divert all that US-77 traffic completely away from the town.

No, the businesses don't relocate. They are displaced by others (usually regional or national players).

The only businesses along Alamo Street in Refugio at risk of being closed are any dependent on US-77 pass through traffic. Local restaurants and local businesses are patronized mostly by local residents. People passing through town tend to only stop at familiar chain stores. They're more likely to stop for lunch at Whataburger or McDonald's than Taqueria Guadalajara. The chain stores are the ones most likely to relocate to a new highway bypass.

[jgb191]

No, the businesses don't relocate.

I could be wrong but I'm pretty sure the major chains in Refugio like McDonald's, Subway, DQ, Whataburger, and BK can either: (A) relocate to the service roads of the new interstate, or (B) keep their current location in town proper and build a second location for the travelers passing by.  I am confident that there is room for another Subway in the Refugio "area" (the present one in the city limits plus a new one by the new interstate).  A number of towns in South Texas do have plural-number of Subways. 

but the current businesses owners by large are left in the cold

Even when the I-69E is open, I'm also counting on many travelers to still drive through the inner-town to either change highways (on to US-183, TX-202, or FM-774/FM-2678) or even just to explore local diners if nothing else; I have done it occasionally myself exploring a small town while traveling.  Indeed those travelers needing to drive to Portland or to downtown Corpus Christi might want to change highways in Refugio and switch onto FM-2678, which provides a more direct route into downtown CC, rather than taking the long way around (driving to I-37 in Calallen), and reduce 10-15 miles of driving.


And as other posters mentioned on here, I-69E will expand the market and add more places to the competitive mix, depending on the number of exits into Refugio; I am expecting at least three (maybe four) exits into town regardless of which way it will bypass the town.  I would expect to see something like a Love's or Pilot or Flying J on either end of the bypass bringing it with them even more food options.  I wouldn't even be surprised if Beaver Aplin opened one of his Buc-ee's in either Refugio or nearby Woodsboro.

[CoreySamson]

Also note that there is a whole lot of nothing between Victoria and Sinton on that section of US 77. It's not like travelers have much of anywhere else to stop in that area. They won't take away Refugio's business.

[jgb191]

^  I also don't believe it would be a too far-fetched idea for the interchange at TX-239 to eventually be dressed with a service location or two (near the small village of McFaddin) after the completion of I-69E.  Currently there is nothing around that intersection.

[sprjus4]

Indeed those travelers needing to drive to Portland or to downtown Corpus Christi might want to change highways in Refugio and switch onto FM-2678, which provides a more direct route into downtown CC, rather than taking the long way around (driving to I-37 in Calallen), and reduce 10-15 miles of driving.

If I'm not mistaken, the preferred alternative for the bypass took a route around the eastern side of the town... so even those taking the "shortcut" would be able to get to/from the new US-77 alignment without going through Refugio.

https://ftp.txdot.gov/pub/txdot/get-involved/crp/us77-woodsboro-refugio/050318-east-route.pdf

I've taken the "shortcut" route a number of times over the years going from US-77 to Corpus Christi... it's a nice route, but the traffic has significantly picked up over the last few years it seems. My last time taking it, it was nothing but a wall of traffic barely maintaining 60-65 mph in a posted 75 mph zone for miles with no passing opportunities.

Until TxDOT improves the route by adding passing lanes or similar widening, I'm personally just going to keep sticking with US-77 for now on. It might be slightly longer, but at least I can maintain 80 mph the whole way (except Odem) and have a continuous 4 lane design.

[TheBox]

what about I-345 tunnel in Downtown Dallas or the I-27 extension within Texas?

[Bobby5280]

The I-345 project in Downtown Dallas is kind of a separate monster. Odds look good the elevated freeway will eventually be re-built in a trench below grade rather than merely removed.

As CoreySamson wrote earlier up-thread, I-27 is mentioned in the Laredo District's planning notes (along with I-2 and I-69W). But there aren't any I-27 specific projects there. Improvements to I-35, the Bob Bullock Loop and even Mines Road could help with the I-27 terminus in Laredo.

The Amarillo District's main priority is finishing Loop 335. That will help route I-27 around the city's West side and connect to a Northern extension. The 2-lane segment of US-87 between Dumas and Hartley will be widened to 4-lanes. That's necessary to open any possibility of a I-27 leg to Raton.

I don't know how the Lubbock Outer Loop project will help or hurt efforts to extend I-27 Southward. Midland-Odessa is often mentioned as a possible West leg of I-27 and/or the final West segment of I-14. Most of the UTP projects there appear concentrated along I-20. The San Angelo District mentions feasibility studies were completed for a Ports to Plains Corridor relief route for San Angelo.

[kernals12]

Hey, it looks like TxDOT is actually completing the Crosby Freeway! Plus it looks like they're gearing up to build the Alvin Freeway. Not many other positives for Houston district, though.

Also the highlights for Laredo District concretely says that I-2 and I-27 will end up going through its borders. That's the most official news on the future western and southern termini of those projects that I've seen.

I think the Alvin Freeway is the only realistic way to relieve congestion on the southern portion of I-45. Given what a nightmare the NHHIP has been, it's best to avoid having to do an SHHIP.

[MaxConcrete]

Hey, it looks like TxDOT is actually completing the Crosby Freeway! Plus it looks like they're gearing up to build the Alvin Freeway. Not many other positives for Houston district, though.

Also the highlights for Laredo District concretely says that I-2 and I-27 will end up going through its borders. That's the most official news on the future western and southern termini of those projects that I've seen.

I think the Alvin Freeway is the only realistic way to relieve congestion on the southern portion of I-45. Given what a nightmare the NHHIP has been, it's best to avoid having to do an SHHIP.

This week TxDOT is having public meetings for long-term planning for the Gulf Freeway.

The universe of alternatives has been refined. The good news is that the primary options to be carried forward are

• General Use Main Lanes
• Reconstruct main lanes to current standard
• Special Use Lanes

Numerous other features are being carried forward as Supplemental Alternatives. See page 37
https://ftp.txdot.gov/pub/txdot/get-involved/hou/i-45s-pel-gulf-freeway/061222-presentation.pdf

Of course, the Gulf Freeway is on a narrow right-of-way (usually around 300 feet). Both sides of the freeway are densely developed, mostly with commercial properties. So widening the right-of-way will be expensive and politically difficult, especially since this is a low-income area. I think the most likely option to achieve the primary alternatives will be to go up, like is being done I-35 in San Antonio.

Also, any work is far in the future (2030s at the earliest) since NHHIP is slated to consume most funding in the Houston district well into the 2030s. However if NHHIP is canceled, then it will open the door for other project like this one. But of course, this study still is in its early phase, and it will be a few years before there is a recommended alternative, and it remains to be seen if it does in fact include some or all of the primary alternatives.

[splashflash]

The draft UTP became available today. This is TxDOT's project funding plan for the next 10 years.
https://www.txdot.gov/inside-txdot/division/transportation-planning/utp.html

It appears that TxDOT is holding back some available funds to cover inflation increases. See pages 11 and 17. It looks like only $6.175 billion in new funding is being authorized per page 11. (But I don't know if this is all categories of new funding).
https://ftp.txdot.gov/pub/txdot/tpp/utp/2023-utp-public-meeting-with-speaker-notes.pdf

And the big winner for new funding is: Dallas-Fort Worth

DFW
US 81/287 freeway upgrade (north Fort Worth): $124 million

https://www.txdot.gov/inside-txdot/projects/studies/fort-worth/us81-avondale.html
https://www.txdot.gov/inside-txdot/projects/studies/fort-worth/fm-1810-us-81.html

Does the Decatur project look like it's now on the list?

[Bobby5280]

If you look at page 87 of the UTP-2023 draft document (91 in the PDF) you'll see a map of the Fort Worth District's projects.

Projects 28a, 28e and 29 address the segment of US-287 from I-35W up to Avondale-Haslet Road. This is an urgently needed upgrade and is forecast for 2023-2026. US-287 would be expanded to 3 lanes in each direction, have new frontage roads built and any remaining at-grade driveways connecting to US-287 removed.

Projects 38a, 38b and 38c are on the North side of Decatur, penciled in for the 2027-2032 time frame. Those projects will convert a small portion of US-287 into a freeway. The traffic signal and grade intersection with FM-1810 will be converted into a freeway exit. The same goes for the at-grade intersection with CR-1160 and North end of Business 81.

[rte66man]

If you look at page 87 of the UTP-2023 draft document (91 in the PDF) you'll see a map of the Fort Worth District's projects.

Projects 28a, 28e and 29 address the segment of US-287 from I-35W up to Avondale-Haslet Road. This is an urgently needed upgrade and is forecast for 2023-2026. US-287 would be expanded to 3 lanes in each direction, have new frontage roads built and any remaining at-grade driveways connecting to US-287 removed.

Projects 38a, 38b and 38c are on the North side of Decatur, penciled in for the 2027-2032 time frame. Those projects will convert a small portion of US-287 into a freeway. The traffic signal and grade intersection with FM-1810 will be converted into a freeway exit. The same goes for the at-grade intersection with CR-1160 and North end of Business 81.

At this rate, they will finish conversion of US81/287 to fully limited access through Decatur about 2060.

[Bobby5280]

I agree the slow pace of improvement is extremely ridiculous and pathetic. The US is so much different about building out highways than it was in decades past. That's despite all the advances in technology we've seen over the past 30 years. One would think the pace from design to completion would be much faster. If anything it is far slower. It's taking multiple decades to get anything done. The US just really really sucks at this stuff anymore.

[kernals12]

I agree the slow pace of improvement is extremely ridiculous and pathetic. The US is so much different about building out highways than it was in decades past. That's despite all the advances in technology we've seen over the past 30 years. One would think the pace from design to completion would be much faster. If anything it is far slower. It's taking multiple decades to get anything done. The US just really really sucks at this stuff anymore.

How has road building technology advanced over the last 30 years?

Also, there's just less need for highway expansion these days. Our population isn't growing very quickly anymore, our working age population is set to start shrinking soon, and vehicle miles travelled per capita has been flat since 2007.

[J N Winkler]

How has road building technology advanced over the last 30 years?

There have been many advances in terms of laser ranging, CAD/CAM, computer control, etc. that, while incremental, have made it much easier to obtain high-quality, dimensionally accurate results across nearly all of the functional disciplines involved in a typical highway construction project.

Funding is the main thing that has not kept up (federal fuel excise taxes not indexed to inflation and last increased in 1994, etc.).

Also, there's just less need for highway expansion these days. Our population isn't growing very quickly anymore, our working age population is set to start shrinking soon, and vehicle miles travelled per capita has been flat since 2007.

We still have freight bottlenecks, and there is an infrastructure element to decarbonization, so there is a continuing need for investment in the highway system just from those two sources.

To an extent, the slow pace of construction (itself a result of funding starvation) is a self-reinforcing pattern.  For example, we can't build tunnels nearly as cheaply as Norway because pretty much all of the expensive plant required has to be amortized over a single project here, rather than several as over there.

[kernals12]

How has road building technology advanced over the last 30 years?

There have been many advances in terms of laser ranging, CAD/CAM, computer control, etc. that, while incremental, have made it much easier to obtain high-quality, dimensionally accurate results across nearly all of the functional disciplines involved in a typical highway construction project.

Funding is the main thing that has not kept up (federal fuel excise taxes not indexed to inflation and last increased in 1994, etc.).

Also, there's just less need for highway expansion these days. Our population isn't growing very quickly anymore, our working age population is set to start shrinking soon, and vehicle miles travelled per capita has been flat since 2007.

We still have freight bottlenecks, and there is an infrastructure element to decarbonization, so there is a continuing need for investment in the highway system just from those two sources.

To an extent, the slow pace of construction (itself a result of funding starvation) is a self-reinforcing pattern.  For example, we can't build tunnels nearly as cheaply as Norway because pretty much all of the expensive plant required has to be amortized over a single project here, rather than several as over there.

But not as much as there was 30 years ago. In those days, even highways in places with no population growth were seeing ballooning traffic levels.

[Bobby5280]

Also, there's just less need for highway expansion these days. Our population isn't growing very quickly anymore, our working age population is set to start shrinking soon, and vehicle miles travelled per capita has been flat since 2007.

US population growth overall is slowing thanks to declining birth rates of American born women and louder calls to limit immigration, both legal and illegal.

Nevertheless, major US metropolitan areas, particularly those in the South and Southwest, are growing rapidly. There has been a great deal of population migration from the Northeast US to other areas of the country. Lately people have been leaving California due to insane living costs; that state posted its first net population loss year over year. Rural areas of the US and small towns have been losing lots of population to the cities.

The highway network in the Northeast US is far more densely packed with routes than the South. Highways in the Western US are far more spread apart. The highway network will have to adjust to the population shifts that have been taking place. That in part means building new routes. I think a great deal of money is being wasted on maintaining countless thousands of rural routes in regions that are literally dying off. Decommissioning many of those increasingly useless roads and bridges will free up more resources for new major highways directly linking big metros in the South and Southwest.

Texas is a rapidly growing state. And it shows no sign of that growth stopping. The Dallas-Fort Worth metro is not far from growing past the 8 million mark in population. Several routes in and around the DFW region need to be improved, even to full Interstate standards. US-287 between Fort Worth and Amarillo is one such route. TX DOT really needs to stop farting around and develop a bolder plan for that corridor. US-287 needs to be an Interstate class freeway THRU Decatur, not just on the North and South sides. US-287 continues to be a big mess going through there.