COMBES — Orange barrels and barriers seem to be the popular choice for decoration here as the $3.7 million State Highway 107 project continues with widening, new retaining walls, storm drains, curb and gutter, signals and signs and pavement markings.
The project spans less than a half-mile of highway, but within that workspace, the scope of the construction is intense as it crawls along beneath the overpass of I-69E/U.S. 77.
The work is about 10 percent complete, and should be finished in July 2018.
Just why this project was funded, and not some other road, was a decision made at least a decade ago.
This month, TxDOT is seeking input from residents of the Rio Grande Valley on the highway projects they want to see funded 10 years from today.
“The Unified Transportation Program is a guide that determines transportation priorities in the State of Texas and we encourage people to be informed,” said Octavio Saenz, public information officer for TxDOT’s Pharr District.
Thanks to technology, there are multiple ways to make your personal highway priorities known. You can visit the Pharr District office on Nov. 9 at 4 p.m., join via webinar or teleconference call, or email or snail mail your comments to TxDOT in Austin.
“We offer the ability to do this from your own home via our WebEx or by attending one of the listening sessions at your local TxDOT district,” Saenz said.
What’s at stake here is deciding just where the Valley allocates its portion of the $70 billion TxDOT is going to spend on building and improving roads and highways over the next 10 years.
The three Valley metropolitan planning organizations — Harlingen-San Benito, Brownsville and Hidalgo County — will receive $510 million in Category 2 and Category 7 funds over the next decade. A potential merger of the three transportation agencies could mean an additional $110 million.
Since everybody drives or rides, most people have strong ideas over where highway and road funds should be spent.
And local transportation planners, like J. Joel Garza Jr., director of the Harlingen-San Benito MPO, are eager to obtain public input on highway priorities.
“I can’t speak for TxDOT, but we at the HSBMPO feel this also helps us identify any concerns that the public might have with a certain roadway,” Garza said. “Voicing your concern early on in the planning stages helps us resolve any issues before any construction takes place.”
The Unified Transportation Program is a bridge to even longer-range plans like the Statewide Long-Range Transportation Plan (SLRTP), the Metropolitan Transportation Plans and the Rural Transportation Plan.
Specifically, the UTP is a listing of projects and programs that are planned to be constructed and/or developed within the first 10 years of the 24-year SLRTP.
Garza said his MPO regularly holds public meetings or open houses to discuss roadway projects in the area, and he emphasized what people have to say there counts.
“Your input can directly impact the decision to add or remove a project from the MPO’s plan, which at the end of the day is submitted to TxDOT’s UTP,” Garza said.
If You Go
WHAT — Public input on TxDOT road planning for the next decade
WHEN — Thursday, Nov. 9, 4 p.m.
WHERE — TxDOT Pharr offices, online webinar or teleconference call
SCOPE: TxDOT’s Pharr District plans, designs, builds, operates and maintains the state transportation system in the following counties: Brooks, Cameron, Hidalgo, Jim Hogg, Kenedy, Starr, Willacy and Zapata.
How to Participate
Visit the Pharr District offices, Nov. 9, at 600 W. U.S. Expressway 83, Pharr, TX
To join via free webinar online, go here: http://ow.ly/n9mB30gfGJj
Host room ID: 859 615 198
Password: mHSgTRx6
Via telephone conference call
855-437-3563 (U.S. toll-free) or
210-606-9485 (U.S. toll)
Access Code: 859 615 198
Leave an online comment here (deadline Dec. 11): http://ow.ly/seFv30gfHhr
Print out a comment form here: http://ow.ly/oqM030gfHp3
Mail to: TxDOT
Attention: Principal Engineer
P.O. Box 149217
Austin, TX, 78714-9217
WHAT — Public input on TxDOT road planning for the next decade
WHEN — Thursday, Nov. 9, 4 p.m.
WHERE — TxDOT Pharr offices, online webinar or teleconference call
SCOPE: TxDOT’s Pharr District plans, designs, builds, operates and maintains the state transportation system in the following counties: Brooks, Cameron, Hidalgo, Jim Hogg, Kenedy, Starr, Willacy and Zapata.
Visit the Pharr District offices, Nov. 9, at 600 W. U.S. Expressway 83, Pharr, TX
To join via free webinar online, go here: http://ow.ly/n9mB30gfGJj
Host room ID: 859 615 198
Password: mHSgTRx6
Via telephone conference call
855-437-3563 (U.S. toll-free) or
210-606-9485 (U.S. toll)
Access Code: 859 615 198
Leave an online comment here (deadline Dec. 11): http://ow.ly/seFv30gfHhr
Print out a comment form here: http://ow.ly/oqM030gfHp3
Mail to: TxDOT
Attention: Principal Engineer
P.O. Box 149217
Austin, TX, 78714-9217
