Local Control

When you have cities like El Paso, Houston and Austin all in the same state, it doesn't make sense for all the transportation decisions to be made from one central headquarters. It takes locals to know what infrastructure they need and want most, and it is time for local and regional officials to have a real say in how the state spends its transportation dollars.

That's why we are partnering with local and regional leaders, and asking them to help solve their local and regional transportation problems. We are working with locals to create pass-through financing agreements, Regional Mobility Authorities, and shore up the potential of the Texas Metropolitan Mobility Plan.

Success Stories

And it's working. Already in many areas around the state, local and regional leaders have partnered with TxDOT to achieve the goals their areas need most.

For example, in Tarrant County, officials from the Regional Transportation Council of the North Central Texas Council of Governments have made the North Tarrant Express a high priority, and have already received a great deal of interest from the private sector for the 36-mile project's development through a Comprehensive Development Agreement, a kind of public-private partnership.

Or, in Weatherford, a pass-through financing agreement addressing nine projects in the city came to fruition after a local government agency took the lead in funding and constructing needed transportation improvements. The city/state partnership allows the City of Weatherford to issue bonds, while TxDOT reimburses them through a fee based on the number of vehicles using the highway over time.

Another pass-through financing success has taken place in Grayson County, where thanks to local efforts, completion of SH 289 will take place approximately 10 years sooner than with traditional TxDOT funding sources. The leadership shown by Grayson County and the creation of the Grayson County Regional Mobility Authority (RMA) has brought decision-making to the local level. The goal of the leadership is to generate funds from this project and others like it so that more transportation system improvement projects can be developed for the area.

And in Dallas, communication proved to be the key tobuilding the city’s largest transportation project to date – the Dallas HighFive. The project, a five-levelinterchange at the juncture of U.S. 75 and Interstate 635, was a collaboration ininnovation between TxDOT, project contractor Zachry Construction, adjacentproperty owners and the 500,000 motorists who drive through the area, one’s ofthe city’s most developed commercial zones. Find out how a big project (wmv 32.4 mg) turned intobig dividends for Dallas.

This is just a small sampling of the things that have and can be accomplished when the decision-making for transportation is shared with local and regional officials. Find out what officials in your area are working on.