FM 1460 project on hold, O’Connor expansion likely
FM 1460 project on hold, O’Connor expansion likely
Written by Shannon Colletti Tuesday, 18 March 2008
The Texas Department of Transportation recently announced funding rescissions that will impact several road projects in the area. Some of the projects are not affected, but others will be delayed. Still others might get underway, but will have to use alternative funding.
“All I know is we lost a ton of money,” said Williamson County Commissioner Ron Morrison. “It’s a big blow. Everybody is shuffling, trying to figure out what we can do.”
What the cuts mean
Morrison said the county will prioritize which projects get addressed first.
“All of the projects will probably be finished,” he said. “They just may not be finished on the schedule we’d planned on.”
Williamson County Commissioner Lisa Birkman said it is up to the cities and county to determine if they are going to put dollars toward state highway projects — something they are not obligated to do.
“It’s a policy decision for us and the cities to decide if we want to do that,” she said. “I think the consensus is, at least in the county, we can’t build and rebuild every state highway in Williamson County. It would bankrupt us, and the tax rate would be unbelievably high. But in certain areas, there is so much demand and need that we need to go ahead and step in.”
FM 1460/A. W. Grimes Boulevard
Birkman said FM 1460 is one project on hold that the county will probably pursue. Plans include widening the existing two lanes into a four-lane divided arterial roadway from Quail Valley Drive in Georgetown south to Old Settlers Boulevard in Round Rock. Improvements are also planned at the intersections of Chandler Road, Westinghouse Road and Inner Loop Drive. The cost is an estimated $21.3 million.
The road is important because, with Texas State Round Rock Higher Education Center, Scott & White University Medical Campus and the new Seton Medical Center Williamson located nearby, traffic will only continue to increase, Birkman said.
Connecting RM 620 and Toll 45
Included in the early planning for the Central Texas Turnpike System was a joint project for Williamson County and TxDOT to fund an extension of Wyoming Springs Drive south to Toll 45. The county was going to pay for construction of the road and TxDOT would fund the interchange, Birkman said. TxDOT cut the project before securing bond financing because there were environmental issues with the area.
But RM 620 is congested and a connector to Toll 45 is needed, Birkman said.
“When you’re on 620, you look at [Toll 45.] You see it’s right there, but you can’t get to it. TxDOT has told us they definitely cannot fund it,” Birkman said. “I realized the project was going to be shelved if we did not look at other options.”
Extending Great Oaks Drive or O’Connor Drive east of RM 620 to Toll 45 was also considered. O’Connor Drive is likely the best option for many reasons, Birkman said. It is a major arterial road, and to the north it becomes Avery Ranch Boulevard, which connects to 183A Toll and US 183.
Williamson County passed a resolution in November allowing the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority to research the possibility of extending O’Connor. In January, CTRMA issued preliminary feedback that the project has good potential.
“Now that we have done a rough analysis, we are paying our traffic and revenue consultant, URS, to do a level-one traffic and revenue assessment of the O’Connor and [Toll] 45 intersection,” said Wes Burford, director of engineering for CTRMA. “That will give us a rough estimate of folks who would be willing to pay a toll to use this road. We have to see a willingness that translates into a bond capacity.”
URS is expected to deliver the traffic and revenue assessment to CTRMA in late May. If the report indicates that construction costs can be supported with an adequate revenue stream, CTRMA will approach TxDOT to see if there is an opportunity to partner. If TxDOT declines, CTRMA and Williamson County will look at securing another way to fund the project.
“What you know [once you have the traffic and revenue assessment] is you have a cost to construct, and you might have a revenue stream to pay for it. So, you have to see where you think you might be able to come up with the money to do the project,” Burford said. “It absolutely would have to be tolled to be constructed.”
However, if the CTRMA finds that the road extension is feasible, Birkman said there will be public hearings to solicit input from the community before moving forward with the project.
“My first choice would be for it to be free, but we need this road and we needed it in 2000. It’s now 2008, and we still don’t have it,” Birkman said. “I don’t know if the county will ever have the money it needs to build it. All studies show it will relieve traffic on 620.”
The cost to extend O’Connor Drive to Toll 45 is an estimated $24 to $40 million, Birkman said.
Reasons for the cuts
Chris Lippincott, spokesman for the government and public affairs division of TxDOT, cited several reasons for the cuts, calling them an “unfortunate convergence of events.”
“The bottom line is for fiscal year 2008, beginning in February, we are going to stop our construction program. $1.1 billion worth of construction projects in Texas will be delayed for the balance of the fiscal year,” Lippincott said. “This is a difficult situation for everyone. We recognize that, and we’re going to do everything we can to work with local authorities to help them make the most of the revenues they have.”
In the last two years, the federal government has issued $666 million of rescissions in a previously promised federal contract for the State of Texas. Lippincott said TxDOT anticipates nearly $950 million in additional rescissions by 2009.
Another issue at the federal level is that the Highway Trust Fund is quickly reaching a point of fiscal crisis, and it is expected that as early as next year, it will begin to run negative balances, Lippincott said.
Some factors have influenced TxDOT at the state level as well. During its last session, the legislature moved $1.5 billion from the state highway fund to pay for other state priorities over fiscal year 2009, and also put restrictions on access to private sector investment, Lippincott said.
Lippincott cited inflation as another reason for the cuts. In the last five years, highway construction costs have increased 62 percent. This can partially be attributed to the rising costs of materials used to build roads — concrete, steel and asphalt, a petroleum product — as well as rising engineering and right-of-way costs. The historically high cost of gasoline also plays a part in this.
The need to increase funding for maintenance of the state’s highways, which are showing wear and tear, is yet another reason for the cuts, according to Lippincott. He also said overly optimistic assumptions by TxDOT, including the overestimation of growth in future federal transportation authorization bills, have tightened TxDOT’s belt.
Texas Department of Transportation projected 2008 budget
Projected revenues*
- Bond proceeds - $745 mil
- Gas tax - $2.2 bil
- Federal funds - $3.3 bil
- Texas Mobility Fund - $1.4 bil
- Vehicle registration - $1 bil
- Other - $325 mil
TxDOT’s road building budget was $4.2 billion in 2007 and has dropped to $3.1 billion in 2008. This means that certain portions of the projected revenues have not met projections and, therefore, planned projects are being delayed.
Projected expenses*
- Planning
- planning and design
- acquisition of R.O.W.
- research
- $1.5 billion
- Building
- transportation
- construction
- aviation
- $3.1 billion
- Maintenance
- contracted maintenance
- TxDOT maintenance
- $2.9 billion
- Use
- traffic safety
- public and medical transportation
- registration and titling
- regulation of motor vehicle dealers
- travel information centers
- auto theft prevention
- rail safety
- $325 million
- Management
- central administration
- support services
- $185 million
Source: Texas Department of Transportation
*All figures are approximations
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