PRESS RELEASE

Gov. Perry Says Texas Is Setting National Pace on Highway Construction

AUSTIN – Gov. Rick Perry today commended the Texas Department of Transportation’s (TXDoT’s) continued progress on state transportation projects. During their August meeting, TXDoT commissioners awarded contracts totaling $650 million for 125 projects, bringing the fiscal year 2004 total to approximately $4 billion in transportation construction contracts - more than any other state.

“These construction dollars will directly translate into reduced traffic congestion, less pollution from auto emissions and more Moms and Dads making it to their children’s softball games and other activities on time,” Perry said. “Texas is a national leader in progressive transportation solutions, and we’re pouring by far more concrete than any other state so that commuters and cargo can move more efficiently.”

Texas invested almost a billion more in transportation projects than California and $2.9 billion more than New York for Fiscal Year 2004.

This construction pace was made possible with new financing tools that the legislature gave TxDoT and that voters approved in a constitutional amendments in 2001 and 2003.

According to Perry, the new transportation projects will continue to assist the state’s job creation and economic development efforts. He cited safe and efficient goods delivery and increased quality-of-life benefits as key components in many businesses’ relocation and expansion decisions.

“We still have a long way to go to get traffic moving, and that is going to require innovative solutions like the Trans Texas Corridor,” Perry said. “To further reduce gridlock and pollution, remove hazardous cargo from city centers, and create more jobs and opportunity, we need to build new routes and not just expand existing ones.

“State gas tax proceeds will not cover maintenance on the existing system this fiscal year, and no longer even contribute to building new highways,” Perry said. “Texas also continues to get short-changed on federal gas tax dollars with roughly 10 cents on the dollar being spent in other states. Neither the gas tax nor federal highway spending comes close to keeping up with Texas’ growth. Only through innovative funding solutions can we make the progress we need.”

Last year, House Bill 3588 which gave TXDoT new oversight authority, new planning and development tools and innovative financing options to address transportation needs for the state’s growing population. Proposition 14, passed by Texas voters last September also allowed the state to leverage up to $6 billion in mobility fund and highway fund bonds for construction projects. These efforts will expedite efficient implementation of the Trans Texas Corridor.

Some of the major projects approved by TXDoT this year include:

• $250 million for the total reconstruction of a two-mile section of I-10 (Katy Freeway) in Houston

• $15.3 million for projects on I-37, which include adding a hurricane evacuation lane, to increase highway capacity from Corpus Christi north to SH 72.

• $75 million for U.S. 281 Expressway projects between Pharr and Edinburg, which begins the three lane expansion on U.S. 281, and

• $13.7 million to widen a nine mile segment of US 87 from the New Mexico State Line to a four-lane divided highway.

Commissioners also approved two measures that will provide infrastructure improvements to support additional troops sent to Texas military communities. Transportation improvements totaling $20 million were approved for Fort Hood in response to the announcement that 5,000 additional soldiers and civilians will be assigned to the Central Texas base. Gov. Perry committed the state to this improvement contingent on additional personnel moving to Fort Hood, which was quickly followed by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld announcement of the additional troops. The commission also approved $16.2 million in infrastructure improvements to support the 3,800 new troops scheduled to arrive at El Paso’s Fort Bliss in 2006.

“These dollars are not just paving roads,” Perry said. “They are paving the way for future opportunity.”