$5.2 Billion in Spending

Texas Continues to Lead Nation in Highway Construction

by Rob Patterson

Bigger and better are the buzzwords for the Texas Department of Transportation this year.

As highway and other transportation needs continue to grow along with the state's population and economy, TxDOT will be letting at least $5.2 billion of projects in its 2006 fiscal year, which runs from September 2005 to August 2006, $600 million more than last year. "We have more miles under construction than any other state," said Thomas Bohuslav, director of TxDOT's construction division. "When I talk to other states about our program, they're amazed at the volume of work we're doing."

Roadway preservation and rehabilitation work will consume $2.1 billion of this year's letting. The recently instituted Fund 6, the Texas Highway Fund that is financed by gas taxes and user fees and dedicated to safety projects, will provide $350 million for safety projects in almost every district. And $3.7 million will be spent on bridge replacement across the state.

To keep the wheels rolling smoothly and efficiently along Texas highways, TxDOT will continue using funding tools and expanded partnership arrangements to meet demands that outpace its own considerable budget granted in recent years by the Texas Legislature.

Comprehensive Development Agreements, or CDAs, with public and private entities for roadway planning and construction will likely reach levels somewhere between 50 to 75 percent of the department's traditional letting over the next two years, accelerating both the number and pace of new highways being built and coming into service.

Other mechanisms like Regional Mobility Authorities, wider use of tolls and the Texas Mobility Fund (which contributed $1.8 billion to 2006 letting) are also helping TxDOT expand and maintain the state's transportation system.

"The Legislature has trusted us with these new financing tools," said Amadeo Saenz, director of TxDOT's engineering division. "Now it's up to us to take those tools and use them to the best of our ability. The goal is to put the right assets on the ground so we can make sure the traveling public has the best highways possible."

Bohuslav said the number of CDA proposals is increasing. "If any firm out there sees a product it thinks has potential for a toll facility for either TxDOT or itself, it can propose developing the facility," he added. "That's pushing those projects forward. Tolling is now helping us address some of the congestion issues that we have. Without it we would not have the funding for the facilities that we are building today."

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At the same time, TxDOT continues to explore and develop contract innovations and technical advances to create greater efficiency and deliver better highways as quickly as possible. The next year will see the massive Trans-Texas Corridor project make final moves towards breaking ground.

And with the completion of the Texas Rail System Plan in late 2005 and voter approval of the rail relocation and improvement fund in November, rail is returning to a position of greater prominence in the Texas transportation mix.

Highways, of course, remain TxDOT's main focus, and this year will see new starts, major progress and completions on a number of significant projects. Two or three sections of SH 130 between Georgetown and U.S. 290 will open this year, while construction continues on the remaining toll road being built to alleviate traffic on IH-35.

The last section of IH-35 between San Antonio and Austin slated for expansion got under way in 2005. This year will see a start on the widening of that highway in Bell County from four to six lanes and construction beginning on its new interchange with Loop 363 in Temple.

In Houston, expansion of the Katy Freeway section of IH-10 continues on or ahead of schedule, with segments of the improved highway expected to open this year.

The Dallas High Five interchange between U.S. 75 (Central Expressway) and IH-635 (LBJ Freeway) was substantially completed in late November, providing an example of how large projects can be built on an accelerated timetable by innovative and motivated contractors.

"It was originally planned to take seven years to build and was crunched down to five," Bohuslav said. "Zachry Construction has crunched it down to four years, which earns it a bonus."

The interchange job will be followed by a $2 billion CDA that will reconstruct lanes and add tunnels on the LBJ Freeway to improve capacity. Another $68 million CDA will fund the extension of SH 161 as a toll road from SH 183 to IH-20, with work beginning this year on the frontage roads.

Work is under way in San Antonio on the city's first toll road. The expansion of U.S. 281 from Loop 1604 to Stone Oak Road will install three tolled express lanes in both directions.

Other Central Texas area projects include U.S. 183A in Cedar Park; SH 45 North from U.S. 183 to SH 130, which will open this year; SH 45 South from IH-35 to SH 130, which is contracted and could begin this year after remaining environmental issues are resolved; and more than $300 million slated in 2006 letting for toll projects on U.S. 183 and U.S. 290.

But highway projects are hardly limited to the large urban centers. Phase one of the Texas Trunk System, connecting all cities with populations larger than 20,000 with four lanes of divided highway, has kicked in. In TxDOT's Bryan District, 9 mi. of SH 6 in Brazos County is being expanded to the tune of $90 million.

The Atlanta District will expand 13.5 mi. of U.S. 59 at a cost of $64 million. U.S. 59 will undergo a $63 million expansion in Montgomery County and a $49 million expansion in Goliad County, with the goal of eventually incorporating the highway into the interstate system.

Environmental studies for the Trans-Texas Corridor along the IH-35 route are expected to be finished by midyear, and the Cintra-Zachry partnership that will be the lead the design and construction should finalize the master development and financial plans in 2006. "Dirt will likely start to fly in 2007," Saenz said.

TxDOT is also examining new contractual arrangements to achieve greater efficiency. The agency recently let its first five-year, districtwide road-striping and reflective markers contract in the San Antonio district.

"In the past we did that work on a project-specific, pay-as-you-do basis," Bohuslav said. "The contract makes one contractor responsible for all the striping on the roadways in that district, and we'll pay on a lump-sum basis per month. If we see some success with it, there might be more of that."

The agency is also expanding similarly structured roadside maintenance contracts in some of its districts. "The advantage is much less administration of the contract," Bohuslav added. "The contractor has an opportunity to create some efficiencies in how it does its work."

"Those types of issues will carry into our conventional and non-conventional construction areas," Bohuslav said. Increased use of incentives and penalties are designed to inspire contractors to complete projects more rapidly.

A number of technical innovations are being used to speed construction and ensure greater quality. The agency will be building more 100 percent precast concrete bridges and utilizing maturity meters to test poured concrete's readiness for use. Smart-compaction technology that measures the stiffness of an entire roadway's subgrade will move out of a pilot program into regular usage. And porous-friction asphalt that absorbs rainwater and reduces hydroplaning will be used more frequently.

"We continue to evolve our asphalt and hot-mix specifications and work closely with the industry on that," Bohuslav said. The volatility of asphalt prices due >>

to petroleum shortages is an ongoing concern for TxDOT. "We're sensitive to that and we're in constant discussion with our contractors in that regard."

Saenz agreed. "In times when we have limited resources, we want to use the right resources," he added. "Through research we continue to find other tools to stretch our dollars and make our jobs easier."

The voter approval of rail-relocation bonds should upgrade rail lines and move more freight off of highways to lessen long-term wear on roadways. It will also open corridors for commuter and regional rail that will lessen road usage and possibly open corridors for new roads.

TxDOT continues to collaborate with the construction industry to improve performance and quality on transportation projects. "I think contractors have the ability to do impressive things, and they can continue to develop new means to efficiently pursue projects," Bohuslav said. "We are impressed by what the industry has been able to do and how quickly they've completed some of these projects out there."