Texas Highway Funding

Associated Construction Publications ^ | December 24, 2007 | Texas Contractor

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

From the Texas Contractor Austin Bureau January 7, 2008 Texas Contractor Interview with Amadeo Saenz on TxDOT construction and maintenance spending in 2008 and beyond.

Amadeo Saenz, P.E., a transportation engineer with 29 years' state experience, took over as the executive director of the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) at the end of September — and began working to find ways to allow the agency to meet the state's highway needs despite increasing demand,rising costs and decreasing resources. Saenz, 51, was named to Texas' top transportation position by the Texas Transportation Commission in late September to replace Michael Behrens, who retired at the end of August.

Since 2001, Saenz had served as TxDOT's assistant executive director for engineering operations — so he says the agency's problems were not a surprise to him, or to the department. Saenz estimates Texas has $70 billion to $100 billion in unfunded transportation needs for the next 25 years. But TxDOT's ability to come anywhere close to meeting those needs looks doubtful, due to problems caused by stagnating revenue sources, escalating costs, and cuts in expected federal aid as resources are devoted to other programs, including military spending.

In the biennial appropriations bill passed by the Texas Legislature in 2007, TxDOT was allocated more than $8.721 billion for fiscal 2008, but the funding has not developed as anticipated, and the agency is having to cut back on what it intended to spend for maintenance and new construction projects.

The spending plan outlined by the Legislature called for approximately $3.5 billion in new construction and $2.3 billion in maintenance for the year, with $1.2 billion coming from the Texas Mobility Fund, $2.7 billion from the State Highway Fund and $3.3 billion from federal reimbursements. Unfortunately, the revenue has not materialized as expected and TxDOT is in the midst of adjusting its budget to squeeze out the most amount of money for projects — but with maintenance work taking priority.

Saenz says the current funding problems are hardly a complete surprise. TxDOT anticipated problems back in 2001, when the Legislature gave the agency new tools to fund transportation projects, including the ability to issue debt based on the state motor fuel tax, he reports.

"But we knew at some point that the money would be spent ... and that the funding would be less because of inflation and debt service," Saenz stated.

Saenz explains the current fiscal problems facing TxDOT are due in large part to increased highway construction costs. Between 2002 and 2007 the highway cost construction index increased not by the 3 percent to 4 percent annually which had been the case, but by 62 percent to 63 percent, Saenz says. Consequently, TxDOT's buying power was diminished at the same that demand for new highway construction and maintenance was increasing.

"We were not able to get to all of the programs that we had rolled because of the high inflation costs," Saenz explains.

In recent years, TxDOT has been concentrating on maintaining the state's highway infrastructure. Saenz says the department's goal in 2002 was to have 90 percent of Texas highways in the same or better condition by 2012. However, he explains, "what has happened is that we're having to put more money into maintenance," and less into new construction. The problem is that pavement begins to deteriorate "from day one," but that deterioration is "not a straight line," he says. The longer maintenance is delayed, the faster a roadway deteriorates and the more costly it is to fix the problems.

Another major factor in the financial crunch being experienced by TxDOT is that for the past 18 months, the amount of federal dollars for planning has decreased, with the federal government taking back $666 million in planning funds, with that money being diverted to other programs. The current congressional appropriations bill has an additional rescission of $250 million to $260 million. That means TxDOT will not be able to carry out projects which the agency had anticipated would be funded, he says.

"The other thing is that under the current federal transportation bill, the funding level is set to deplete any level in the Federal Highway Trust Fund," Saenz continued. "The plan was that it would go into the red by $500 million to $600 million ... The most recent projection is that it's $4 billion in the red. That means they're short $4 billion to reimburse the states ... Texas won't be able to get its 80-percent reimbursement."

TxDOT is looking at projections as to what work it will be able to perform in 2008, but the picture isn't very good, he admits. Because of the need to maintain the state's roads, and because other sources of revenue are declining, "the only place left to go for money is to get it from the construction budget," Saenz says.

So in 2008, TxDOT will reduce the number of construction projects. By 2012, if the situation doesn't change, there will be "zero dollars" for construction, Saenz reports. Saenz says TxDOT is working the "piece together a budget to see what we will have." The department is looking at what it can do to meet the most pressing needs, he explains. "We've looked at the state as a whole, to see where they're at the 90-percent or better goal," Saenz reports.

As a result, TxDOT has shifted $225 million around to areas with more critical needs. The department plans to go to the Texas Transportation Commission with projected budgets from the next several years, up to 2012.

Saenz reports there is some good news among the doom and gloom. "We're very happy that voters approved Proposition 12," he says. That constitutional amendment, which was approved Nov. 6, provides for $5 billion in bonds for transportation projects, but the Legislature will have to decide how much of the authority to use.

"It's not going to solve the state's transportation problems," Saenz comments, "but it will carry us down the road for a bit." Saenz estimates Texas has $70 billion to $100 billion in unfunded transportation needs for the next 25 years.

TxDOT is looking at public-private collaborative ventures to help meet those needs, but Saenz notes that in the 2007 legislative session "we got some pushback" regarding such initiatives. The result was a moratorium on toll roads and establishment of a study commission to look at such public-private projects. "We're looking forward to working with the commission," Saenz reports. That will happen during 2008, with recommendations expected to go to the Legislature in January 2009.

TxDOT also is going through the "sunset" review process, to determine what changes may need to be made to improve its operations. "It's a good opportunity to have outsiders look at the department, and see what can be done better, and what we're doing well," Saenz says.

Meanwhile, TxDOT will be working to determine how to adjust its operational budgets to providing savings that may be used for maintenance and construction. Saenz says TxDOT is looking at various options to become more "lean and mean," including whether it would be cheaper to perform some services in-house or to contract them out.

"If we don't have money for new construction projects, what do we need in design staff or consultants," he asks, adding that the department will be looking to resolve those questions and others as it moves along in 2008. "Do we need to buy new equipment this year or are we able to wait until next year? Can we delay some work that is not related to the highway system? Do we need to buy right-of-way now or can that wait?" And Saenz won't rule out the possibility of staff cuts — but reports that for the moment, TxDOT is simply capping the number of employees that it has.

TxDOT is working with transportation agencies in other states to prepare for the next federal transportation bill, and has been keeping the Texas congressional delegation informed about the state's concerns and needs. Saenz also thinks the department needs to get the message out to the public about what's happening with TxDOT and with the state's transportation system.

"I don't think we've communicated our story to the public really well," Saenz says. But he hopes that the word will be communicated, including the message that there is "no one magic pill" that is going to solve the problems.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

Trans-Texas Corridor PING!

[K-oneTexas]

The citizens of Texas have lost on this issue. Our Governor pushes toll roads ... to include roads previously paid for by bond issues. Our last batch of Constitutional Amendments included one to bail out the Legislature for violation the proscribed use of dedicated funds to fund one of their 'pet projects'.

They stick it to us again, and again and again. Somehow we (or the majority of Texans) follow blindly. When will we ever learn? When will we take back our government and hold them accountable?

Sorry, just one Texans rantings.

[Paleo Conservative]

How many more years will it take to expand I-35 to three lanes each way between south of San Antonio to the split off of I-35W and I-35E north of Hillsboro? So far it’s taken what 17 years? By the time it’s finished it will be obsolete. I’d rather have some toll roads that get built within a timespan where they are actually usable in my lifetime and aren’t already 50% overcrowded on the day they are opened. There really isn’t any more room to expand the narrow I-35 corridor without really expensive rights of way purchases. It would be cheaper to build highways parallel to I-35 on new rights of way than to expand the I-35 right of way.

[E.G.C.]

BTTT

[hocndoc]

If toll roads work and are profitable enough for international corporations to invest in, then let the State and US corporations fund and build. I am not an isolationist and normally object to limitations on the market, but I don’t believe that international corporations should have control over our roadways since they are such a vital part of our security.

I grew up going to Six Flags in Arlington on the toll road, and remember that we always had a line backed up at the toll booth. When I was grown, there were still at least a couple of cars in front and back of me at the toll booths. At least we knew that someday the tolls would end when the loan was paid back and no one ever mentioned restricting neighboring road development or speed limits.

However, the new schemes I hear about from CINTRA sound like they’ll strangle other development and never end.

[Ben Ficklin]

This article makes me nostalgic.

I remember the old days when we had the Highway Dept headed by a State Engineer who had the power and the authority to do what was needed.

Today, the legislature does it based only on political considerations. And sometimes, as the last legislative session shows, they do nothing based on political considerations.

Its interesting to note that Saenz mentions that we will have to wait to see how the legislature "porks out" the $5 billion from prop 12.

[zeugma]

Yet more examples of the criminals in Austin trying to drum up more taxes.

 "But we knew at some point that the money would be spent ... and that the funding would be less because of inflation and debt service," Saenz stated.

Here, they are admitting that they've been borrowing from the future, and now have a debt burden to service as well. Every dollar that goes to interest is another dollar that is not spent on our roads.

Then later on...

 Saenz reports there is some good news among the doom and gloom. "We're very happy that voters approved Proposition 12," he says. That constitutional amendment, which was approved Nov. 6, provides for $5 billion in bonds for transportation projects, but the Legislature will have to decide how much of the authority to use.

So, they are already being impacted by poor decisions of the past of spending money they didn't have, yet, like the freepsending drunkards on the public money they are, they are going to do it again so they'll be able to complain even more about debt service in the future.

The poor babies are also crying about the public giving "some pushback" to the crony capitalism they call "public-private collaborative ventures". You're damned right we're pushing back. They are selling dollars for pennies and expecting us to just go along with it.

They don't mention the fact that the legislooters have been playing fast and loose with taxes from gasoline, and registrations, and inspections, and all the other tools they use to nickel and dime the taxpayers to death.

Bottom line is, they are going to be screaming for more money. They always do. No matter how much of our very life's blood we give them, it is never enough. 

[Paleo Conservative]

If toll roads work and are profitable enough for international corporations to invest in, then let the State and US corporations fund and build.

Zachry Group of San Antonio is partnering with Cintra precisely because it has experience with previous toll road projects in Europe. It's a good idea to have a company involved with such experience. Mistakes in designing such a system can be long lasting and hard to correct.

Just look at I-35. It was one of the earliest Interstate Highways built in Texas and it was rather badly planned. The right of way corridor should have been at least twice as wide if not three times as wide. In Austin there were originally just two lanes going each direction with no expansion room at grade level. It was expanded to just four lanes with the addition of two elevated express lanes. Of course none of that highway can be expanded without completely ripping out the existing freeway and rebuilding from scratch at a cost of billions of dollars. It's much cheaper to build new multi use corridors parallel to I-35 than to try to upgrade the bottlenecks in San Antonio, Austin, Temple, Waco, Hillsboro, Ft. Worth, and Dallas.

TxDOT has been upgrading I-35 from south of San Antonio all the way to Hillsboro from two lanes to three lanes since maybe 1990. When will that project be finished? Even when it's finished it will be obsolete. This upgrade isn't just a matter of filling the space between the medians either. It requires completely rebuilding the entire highway from the sub base up. The original grading of I-35 was not up to modern standards so the original roadbed has been dug up and regraded so the new highway has better sight lines and much less vertical motion. The original on and off ramps were very dangerous and are being replaced by better engineered on and off ramps. The costs of all these improvements are much higher than building a new modern super highway on a virgin right of way, and they have diverted funds away from other road projects in the state.

South Texas traditionally has gotten the short end of the stick when road construction money gets tight. Corpus Christi (which used to be larger than Austin up till the 1980's) was not connected to the Interstate Highway system till 1981 (ten years after the original system was supposed to have been completed). Corpus didn't even have divided highways to Houston (the largest city on the gulf coast and fourth largest city in the US) till 1987. The highway from Corpus Christi to Houston is still well below Interstate Highway standards even though it has lots of NAFTA truck traffic. This creates tremendous opportunities for trial lawyers to sue trucking companies for injuries caused when 80,000 pound 18 wheel trucks collide with passenger cars. You wouldn't believe the number of trial lawyers advertising Corpus Christi promising to get money out of the trucking companies and their insurers for truck-car accidents.

The design of the TTC will eliminate truck-car accidents, because trucks will be on their own separate roads in the corridors. Also the corridors will have double tracked freight rail rights of way that will modernize the rail infrastructure in Texas. The rail portion alone of the TTC-35 corridor will allow the elimination of 1 million trucks per year from I-35, decreasing congestion and improving safety for those people traveling on I-35. I can see how the trial lawyers won't like that.

Union Pacific and other rail roads will be able to abandon old deteriorated rail rights of way with lots of dangerous grade level crossings and be able to operate 85 mph trains from border to border without having to slow down, because all rail traffic will be grade separated from any crossing streets and highways. The existing rail infrastructure in Texas was laid out in the 19th century when locomotives used steam and had to stop to frequently replenish fuel and water used to generate steam. They weren't built for high speeds, and they went through the middle of towns and cities. Very little of the rail right of way in Texas is double tracked even though Texas is now the second most populous state in the union. Even if the Union Pacific and other rail roads in Texas want to double track their busiest corridors in Texas, they can't because of development along the rights of way. The TTC proposals mean railroads will be able to abandon old, decaying, and inadequate rail rights of way, and operate safer and faster on new grade separated rights of way. The old rail rights of way would make excellent rights of way for more roads, freeways, and urban rail transport.

[RightWhale]

Better get this Mexico-Siberia Corridor thing going sometime soon. Russian oil/gas and Chinese lead toys are sitting on the shipping docks and need transport, and Alaska is kind of sitting doing nothing of any use to anybody. Let’s get moving!

[Liz]

Texas Gov Rick Perry facilitated the Texas trade corridor: he used government power to take taxpayers' properties via eminent domain and gave them to a foreign company. Perry recently endorsed the candidacy of his business partner Rudy Giuliani.

Bracewell & Giuliani Firm Advises Cintra in First Privatization of Toll Road in Texas

DALLAS (March 1, 2007) Bracewell & Giuliani LLP (Texas-based law firm with global connections) advised Cintra Concesiones de Infraestructuras de Transporte, S.A., a Spanish transportation company, in its successful bid to develop State Highway 121 into a toll road through Collin and Denton counties.

The award to Cintra, approved by the Texas Transportation Commission, is the first privatization of a Texas toll road. Bracewell is acting as project counsel to Cintra with respect to the 50-year concession from the Texas Department of Transportation. Cintra will pay a $2.1 billion upfront and annual lease payments totaling $700 million. "Cintra was awarded this project because of its proven expertise and competitive proposal," said Thomas O. Moore, partner with Bracewell & Giuliani. "This is the largest transportation deal of 2007. This is one of only five deals in the country." http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1803916/posts

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TX governor rapped for paving way for construction of Trans-Texas Corridor
One News Now ^ | August 24, 2007 | Chad Groening
FR Posted on 08/25/2007 4:51:06 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks

Texas Governor Rick Perry is being called to task by an author and investigative journalist for vetoing bills that would have blocked construction of the controversial Trans-Texas Corridor. Dr. Jerome Corsi has been one of the leading voices warning the American public about the consequences of the Trans-Texas Corridor, which will be part of a superhighway -- purported to be four football fields wide -- that will allow Mexican trucks to enter the U.S. and traverse the core of the country all the way to Canada.

The best-selling author asserts that Governor Perry cleared the way for construction to begin in his state when he vetoed several bills passed by the Legislature that would have stalled the project. "Governor Perry has been 100 percent gung-ho in building this road," says Corsi. "The Legislature voted a two-year moratorium, it voted a redefinition of eminent domain -- [and] Governor Perry vetoed them. [On] at least one of those measures, he waited until the Texas Legislature was out of session so it couldn't even override his veto."

Corsi says it is unfortunate that there has been political pressure to get the project started. "The Federal Highway Administration's lawyer wrote letters threatening the Texas Legislature to cut off federal highway funds if they got in the way of this Trans-Texas Corridor," he says.

Corsi believes the same pressure will be applied on other states, like Oklahoma, to go along with the project. He suggests that would mean a loss of more American jobs and could pose a threat to U.S. sovereignty.

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In Mexico for trade talks, Perry blasts immigration policies
Houston Chronicle, Mexico City Bureau | Aug. 28, 2007 | DUDLEY ALTHAUS
Posted on 08/28/2007 5:35:20 PM PDT by Dubya

MEXICO CITY — Leading a large delegation of Texas executives trying to drum up business in Mexico, Gov. Rick Perry on Tuesday criticized the U.S. Congress for failing to pass an immigration bill that would legalize millions of workers. "I don't think this is that difficult an issue if Congress would have the maturity to sit down and really discuss it and cut out all the mean rhetoric," Perry said during a break in the third day of meetings with Mexican officials and business executives. (Excerpt) Read more at chron.com ...

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Gov Rick Perry does a Dixie Chick---he criticizes the US while in a foreign country. Is Perry collaborating with a foreign government to influence the policies of the US government on the issue of amnesty for illegals? Gov Perry endorsed Giuliani's candidacy-----does candidate Giuliani agree with collaborating with foreign governments to change US policies? We need rational leaders who understand the dimensions of the problem. Perry and Giuliani are not among this group.

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Here's Rudy Giuliani and Rick Perry's idea of "border security."
Perry and Giuliani take US properties from taxpayers via eminent domain and gives them to foreign entities.

MAP OF TEXAS-CANADA-MEXICO TRADE CORRIDOR BROKERED BY Bracewell & Giuliani

DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY MAP----TERRORIST ENTRY POINTS

NASCO Members: United States: Texas Dept. of Transportation Iowa Department of Transportation State of Oklahoma Minnesota Dept. of Transportation Bell County, Texas Denton County, Texas Tarrant County, Texas Webb County, Texas Jackson County, Missouri City of Denton, Texas City of Ft. Worth, Texas City of Gainesville, Texas City of Kansas City, Missouri International Trade Institute of the Americas Free Trade Alliance San Antonio Port San Antonio United States - Mexico Chamber of Commerce Kansas City SmartPort The Ardmore Development Authority, City of Ardmore, Oklahoma Belton Economic Development Corporation The Des Moines Area Metropolitan Planning Organization The Allen Group Hillwood - Alliance Texas The Ambassador Bridge Detroit/Windsor Crossing American Airlines Blackwood, Langworthy & Tyson, an established Kansas City law firm Cadre Technologies Franco Eleuteri & Associates EWI Risk Services, Inc. GrowthNet Trading, LLC International Bank of Commerce Love's Travel Stops & Country Stores PROTECT-US, Inc. Scrub Oak Technologies Strasburger & Price Law Firm Trans Am Group Yellow Roadway Corporation Worldwide The NAFTA Superhighway and Lockheed Martin (the only Pentagon defense contractor listed)

[Liz]

Better get this Mexico-Siberia Corridor thing going sometime soon. Russian oil/gas.......need transport, and Alaska is sitting doing nothing of any use to anybody.

Did you know presidential wannbe Rudy Giuliani held a campaign fund-raiser in Kazakhstan (a former Soviet State)?

KAZAKH KASH
By CARL CAMPANILE, NY POST
September 22, 2007

Rudy Giuliani is reaching out to (cable comic) Borat's glorious nation of Kazakhstan to benefit his presidential campaign. The campaign will throw a fund-raiser in Kazakhstan on Wednesday. "Rudy will be holding a live teleconference with supporters," fund-raising chief Roy Bailey said in a letter to supporters. Giuliani's law firm, Bracewell & Giuliani, has two offices in Kazakhstan. http://www.nypost.com/seven/09222007/news/nationalnews/kazakh_kash.htm

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WHAT'S AN AMERICAN PRSEDENTIAL CANDIDATE DOING IN KAZAKHSTAN?
Giuliani's Texas-based law firm, Bracewell & Giuliani, has two offices in Kazakhstan. Bracewell & Giuliani's January closings in its Almaty, Kazakhstan office totalled $1.625 Billion.

WHERE IS KAZAKHSTAN?
Kazakhstan is a former Soviet Union state, the only Central Asian country sharing borders with both Russia and China, and has states of nuclear-transit significance such as Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Kyrgyzstan.

WHAT IS IT'S GLOBAL STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE
Kazakhstan is in the Strategic Energy Ellipse and is a member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization with China and Russia. A focal point of influence between the West and the East.....(can you say oil and gas pipelines?)

WHAT IS KAZAKHSTAN'S MAIN INDUSTRY
Kazakhstan aims to become the world’s largest producer and exporter of uranium in the next five years.

WHAT THIS ABOUT KAZAKHSTAN AND NUCLEAR TRANSPORT?
With so much uranium, Kazakhstan plans on using its corridors in a nuclear-transit strategy.

[wolfcreek]

“Saenz says the department’s goal in 2002 was to have 90 percent of Texas highways in the same or better condition by 2012.”

Read this carefully.

Now you know what we have to deal with here in Texas.

[wolfcreek]

“How many more years will it take to expand I-35 to three lanes each way between south of San Antonio to the split off of I-35W and I-35E north of Hillsboro?”

My theory is this toll road projects have been in the pipeline for many years and it haven’t gotten a lot of support. This is our punishment (or incentive if you will).

[RightWhale]

I own stock in a Kazakh uranium mine. It’s interesting some candidates are aware of something outside the USA besides Vietnam.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

“Better conditions” meaning PPPs and toll roads, you say?

[wolfcreek]

If the state has such a shortfall and is spending most of the money on maintenance, would the *up front* money from PPPs and toll roads, meet that need? Would a non-compete clause effect how that money is spent?

This double talk from the DOT weasels is one of the main reason Texans are leery of their actions and deal making.