Federal Budget Recommends $1.5 Billion for Transit Projects

The Dallas Light Rail System expansion is slated for $80 million in federal funding.

May TxDOT Letting Dates

The Texas Department of Transportation has scheduled its next highway letting for May 9 and 10. One hundred and eleven projects are approved to be let with an estimated total of $549,184,747.

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

Funds Slated for Dallas Light Rail

Fighting congestion on America's roadways is the goal of a massive new investment in subway, light rail and commuter rail projects, according to U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta, who recently announced a plan to spend $1.5 billion on transit programs in U.S. cities including Dallas.

The spending plan, included in President Bush's budget submitted to Congress, provides for multi-year funding for 23 existing projects and five new projects eligible for funding based on progress.

The recommendations are part of the Annual Report on New Starts for FY 2007. The New Starts report includes $572 million in annual funding for 16 projects that the federal government has already made long-term funding commitments to, known as Full Funding Grant Agreements.

New this year is $303 million in funding recommended for five new projects in four states. Of that, $80 million is slated for a 21-mi. extension to the Dallas Light Rail system to fight congestion in and out of the city's central business district.

"As a nation choked with congestion, we must turn to transit as one way to make it easier and faster to get to work, relieve crowded roads and keep our economy moving," said Mineta. "An investment in transit is an investment in fighting congestion."

The report proposes full-funding grant agreements for projects in five cities, including Dallas' Northwest/Southeast Light Rail. According to the report: "The 21-mi. extension will provide fixed guideway transit service in heavily traveled transportation corridors. From Dallas' central business district, the line will extend northwest 10.9 mi. along IH-45 to the city of Farmer's Branch, and southeast 10.1 mi. to Buckner Boulevard. The project will provide an alternative to congested highway facilities, increase transit capacity, improve connectivity to regional activity centers and provide economic development opportunities. The line will carry nearly 46,000 average weekday riders, including 10,700 daily new riders, by 2025. The project will cost a total of $1.4 billion."

A complete list of projects recommended under FTA's Annual Report on New Starts is available by logging on to fta.dot.gov.

Operation Rio Grande Launched

Gov. Rick Perry recently launched Operation Rio Grande, a state-led initiative to address escalating violence, increase border security and ensure Texans' safety. The operation brings together a variety of state resources to better secure the Texas-Mexico border from Brownsville to El Paso.

"There is not only great concern that the drug trade is becoming more aggressive, but that terrorist organizations are seeking to exploit our porous border," Perry said. "Last year alone, 135,000 people who are not of Mexican descent were apprehended entering Texas illegally. The threat is real, and it grows each day."

According to the office of the governor, recent events along the border indicate that violence and criminal activity have escalated, including the apprehension of four Iraqis headed to U.S. soil by Mexican officials, the discovery of a criminal organization's weapons stockpile in Laredo that included improvised explosive devices and fragmentation hand grenades and the recent chase of narco-terrorists involving local deputies and Department of Public Safety officers in Hudspeth County.

Perry activated the Governor's Emergency Management Council and placed the Texas Fusion Center on the highest alert level under the supervision of Texas Homeland Security Director Steve McCraw. The State Operations Center will serve as a central point of coordination for state, local and federal officials, as well as a single hub for incident reporting and intelligence support for law enforcement agencies up to 100 mi. away from the Rio Grande River.

Perry's action represents the first time the State Operations Center has been activated to coordinate a law enforcement operation.

As part of Operation Rio Grande, Perry ordered deployment of:

A DPS rapid response team of state troopers dispatched to troubled areas; DPS narcotics, motor vehicle theft and criminal intelligence investigators to conduct covert patrols and surveillance activities; DPS fixed and rotary aviation assets to support Operation Linebacker patrols; a DPS SWAT team and the development of regionalized, enhanced swat teams with rapid response capabilities; a border-wide investigation of alleged incursions by the Mexican military, conducted by the Texas Rangers; other state assets including Texas Department of Criminal Justice canine search teams, Texas Parks and Wildlife game wardens and Texas Department of Transportation road barriers.

SH 130 Builds New Homes for Bats

State Highway 130 developer Lone Star Infrastructure and Bat Conservation International, a leading bat conservation organization based in Austin, recently joined to launch the "Lone Star Bat Project," an initiative that will provide new homes for up to 40,000 bats in Central Texas. The installation of an artificial bat roost, or bat house, took place in January under the future SH 130 San Gabriel River bridge in Williamson County, northeast of Georgetown.

The Lone Star Bat Project is planned as the largest installation of bat houses in TxDOT history on the largest highway project in Texas history. SH 130 crews will install a total of eight roosts along the toll road.

The Mexican freetailed bats that will soon make a home in the bridges of SH 130 consume huge quantities of insect pests. The bats migrate to Mexico to spend the winter in a warmer climate. Upon their return in spring, the nocturnal bats are expected to discover the new homes.

As with the well-known Congress Avenue Bridge in Austin, the San Gabriel River bridge is expected become home to a colony of bats that will leave at sunset in search of insects and return at sunrise. According to Tom Van Zandt, environmental compliance manager for the SH 130 project: "Bats dwell underneath bridges primarily because of the heat that radiates from above, through the concrete then to the substructure. In effect, this heating works as an incubator for the bats."

Gulf Coast States Get $868 Million to Fuel Road Reconstruction

Gulf Coast states still rebuilding after last year's devastating hurricanes will share $868 million in federal funds aimed at road and bridge projects, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Norman Y. Mineta recently announced.

Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Florida will use the money to repair or rebuild federally supported highways and bridges damaged by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Mineta said.

Mississippi will receive $740 million, Louisiana $75 million, Florida $42 million and Texas $11 million for repairs based on formal requests already received from the states. Additional funds are likely to be received once the states issue final requests for aid.

Eligibility for federal funds varies by project, but in most cases, the federal government will pay for 100 percent of the work.

The funding was included in a $2.75 billion emergency relief package requested by President Bush and approved by Congress late last year.