AUSTIN The Texas Transportation Commission, led by Chairman Bruce Bugg, voted unanimously Wednesday to approve the state’s 2024 Unified Transportation Plan (UTP), which includes $4.3 billion in funding for transportation projects in the Texas Department of Transportation’s (TxDOT) Odessa district over the next decade. State Representative Brooks Landgraf (R-Odessa), long-time member of the House Transportation Committee, has appeared before the commission to advocate for additional state transportation funding for the Permian Basin numerous times since his election to the Texas House.
“We continue to break funding records for our transportation infrastructure here in the Permian Basin,” Landgraf said in a press release. “The 2024 UTP funding amount of $4.3 billion breaks the record set by last year’s UTP by more than a billion. That money is being tabbed for projects planned for the next 10 years, demonstrating a long-term commitment by the state. When it comes to money actually spent to make our roads safer and get products to market faster, 2023 is the highest amount ever with over $550 million expended on projects in the Odessa TxDOT district, surpassing the record $480 million that was spent in 2020.”
Every year, the Texas Transportation Commission updates and approves the Unified Transportation Program (UTP), the release said. The UTP is TxDOT’s 10-year plan that guides the development of transportation projects across the state. The 2024 UTP includes funding to continue the complete rebuild of I-20, make safety improvements to SH 191, widen US 285, and build and improve intersections and overpasses on Loop 338, including the interchange at US 385.
“I am filled with gratitude and hope everyone who lives and works in the Permian Basin will join me in thanking Governor Abbott and Chairman Bugg,” Landgraf continued. “We are already seeing positive results in terms of reduced crashes on many of the roadways the state has worked on in the last few years. To know that these improvements are going to continue for another 10 years is an answer to prayer, not possible without Governor Abbott and the Transportation Commissioners deciding to prioritize our region. To put it in perspective, only the 5 metro TxDOT districts have more funding tabbed in the 2024 UTP than the Odessa district, meaning we have more projects planned over the next decade than the 10 other rural districts and the 9 urban districts. This is a big deal.”
Since 2015, transportation funding has increased by more than 700% for highways in the Odessa TxDOT district, going from $50 million per year in the 4 years before 2015 to $430 million per year over the last 4 years. This year TxDOT has invested well over $500 million for projects in the Odessa TxDOT district – the largest amount ever. The Odessa TxDOT district, led by District Engineer Eric Lykins, P.E., plans, designs, builds, operates and maintains the state transportation system in the counties of Andrews, Crane, Ector, Loving, Martin, Midland, Pecos, Reeves, Terrell, Upton, Ward, and Winkler.
