New TxDOT Executive Director Selected

Also, expansion, improvement projects slated; funding pondered for Ports-to-Plains Corridor; $25 million allocated for Safe Routes to Schools program.

Amadeo Saenz Chosen to Head TxDOT

Amadeo Saenz, a transportation engineer with 29 years state experience, was recently named executive director of the Texas Department of Transportation, becoming the first Hispanic to head the agency in its 90-year history.

Saenz, 51, was named to the state’s top transportation position by the Texas Transportation Commission.

Since 2001, Saenz has served as TxDOT’s assistant executive director for engineering operations. He has been instrumental in implementing the department’s strategies to use all financial options to build transportation projects, empower local and regional leaders to solve transportation problems, increase competition to reduce costs and make consumer-driven decisions.

$14 Million of Improvements Slated for State Highway 78

TxDOT recently received approval from the Federal Highway Administration to proceed with plans to widen SH 78 from north of the President George Bush Turnpike to Spring Creek Parkway.

The project would turn the original four-lane SH 78, designed and built in 1965, into a six-lane roadway with left-turn and right-turn lanes. Construction would occur in the existing median, requiring no new right-of-way.

The estimated $14 million project passes through the cities of Garland, Sachse and Wylie, in Collin and Dallas Counties. Funding for the project is anticipated to be 80% federal and 20% state funds with a tentative construction start date in spring 2009.

Two New Projects Start in Wichita Falls

The Kell West Extension and Loop 11 projects in Wichita Falls will proceed with the fourth phase of the Kell West Extension as the final piece of Kell Freeway in Wichita Falls. Austin Bridge and Road of Dallas will be the contractor for the job. The $28.4 million project is 7.6% under the projected estimate. The first phase of the Loop 11 project was approved for $5.9 million, which is 2.7% under the estimate. Zachry Construction Corp. of San Antonio will build the new roadway.

Work Begins on Midland Reliever Route

The first construction work on a proposed new section of a West Texas highway in Midland described both as a ‘reliever route’ to reduce future truck traffic congestion on Loop 250 and as one of the first segments of the La Entrada al Pacifico trade corridor in Texas began with construction work on a drainage structure on County Road 60.

The structure, consisting of nine 10x7-ft concrete boxes, will carry storm water runoff from Jal Draw under the county road east of FM 1788. The draw intersects with the proposed SH 349 reliever route near its connection to FM 1788 north of SH 191.

The drainage work has to be completed prior to construction of the highway to provide for local traffic circulation along CR 60, which will be cut off from its current connection to FM 1788 and tied to an intersection with FM 1788 and the new SH 349 reliever route. The drainage construction activity will be done by contractor J.L. Stee LP of Roanoke.

After the drainage structure is complete, it will clear the way for future construction work on the reliever route. The La Entrada al Pacifico route runs from the port of Topolobampo in the Mexican state of Sinaloa, through Chihuahua City and Presidio-Ojinaga to the Midland-Odessa area.

The first phase of the project calls for building half of the eventual freeway type facility as a two-lane highway. That work is scheduled to begin in the spring.

Safe Routes to Schools Program Gets $25 Million

The Texas Transportation Commission approved almost $25 million in projects for the Safe Routes to Schools program, which will fund 244 projects statewide in more than 66 communities.

The national program distributes designated state and federal funds to enhance safety in and around school areas with sidewalks, pedestrian and bicycle crossing improvements, on-street bicycle facilities, off-street bicycle and pedestrian facilities, bicycling parking facilities and more. Non-infrastructure projects, such as education and awareness programs, will also be funded as part of the program.

Funding Explored for Ports-to-Plains Corridor

Texas transportation officials say it is time to come up with a plan to pay for the Ports-to-Plains Corridor, which many local officials predict will create new jobs and economic opportunity for West Texas.

TxDOT will form a working group to develop a financial master plan for Ports-to-Plains, which is a proposed divided highway corridor stretching from Laredo through West Texas to Denver, Colo. Designated as a high-priority corridor by Congress in 1998, the Ports-to-Plains Corridor is intended to expand economic opportunity and serve international trade from Mexico to Canada.

Despite the congressional designation, adequate federal funding has not been provided to cover the cost of the project.

San Benito $7.7 Million Road Expansion Under Way

TxDOT recently began expansion of FM 345 in San Benito from Business 77 to Early Road. From Business 77 to Downs Road, the project consists of an asphalt overlay only; from Downs Road to Early Road, the project will consist of a complete reconstruction and widening to an 84-ft curb and gutter roadway with four lanes, shoulders and a raised median.

The $7.7 million project was awarded to Ballenger Construction of San Benito and the project is expected to take approximately 16 months to complete.

Construction Could Start in Spring on Road Extension in Midland

Construction could begin in late spring or early next summer, depending on the award of contract, for a $5.4 million extension of Holiday Hill Road in north Midland.

The project is currently scheduled for a 2008 letting if all the needed right-of-way has been acquired and the utilities in the corridor have been adjusted to allow contractors to do roadwork.

The 3.3-mi extension will connect the existing Holiday Hill Road to the SH 349 reliever route. Work on that project will be under way at the same time. The Holiday Hill Rd. extension will be built initially as a two-lane roadway, with some areas including a left-turn lane. The ultimate build-out calls for a four-lane roadway with a continuous left turn lane.

The project is expected to take 15 months. Work on the reliever route is expected to get under way early 2008.

Traffic Switches on U.S. 377 Signal Progress in $13 Million Project

U.S. 377 traffic in Keller was switched from the existing lanes to the newly constructed northbound lanes for the ongoing widening of U.S. 377 from Keller-Hicks Road to one mi south of the Denton County line as part of a $13 million project expanding U.S. 377 from two lanes to four lanes. The 2.4-mi project is estimated for completion by spring 2009.