Highway plan hits $48M roadblock
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More than $48 million in major highway projects planned for Victoria could be in jeopardy.
Transportation coordinators blame the problem on funding – or the lack of funding.
The shortfall will likely mean the Texas Department of Transportation won’t have money to build overpasses on Zac Lentz Parkway over Salem Road and Mockingbird Lane.
Increasing traffic volumes at those intersections could spell trouble without the improvements.
“The new high school opening in 2010 on Mockingbird Lane concerns us,” said Randy Bena with the state transportation department. “That’s why we’re looking at a possible overpass at Mockingbird and Zac Lentz Parkway.”
The state also doesn’t have funding to widen the stretch of the parkway between Main Street and the Lower Mission Valley Road to four lanes. That two-lane section of highway is a bottleneck because it is sandwiched between four-lane sections on each end.
It has been the scene of several traffic-related deaths.
The state’s independent 2030 Committee has estimated Texas will need about $14 billion per year to pay for highway projects between 2009 and 2030.
But Ray Miller with the Metropolitan Planning Organization, which coordinates the county’s transportation projects, said the state has been spending only about one-third of that amount .
County Judge Don Pozzi said his requests to lawmakers to free up more money for highway projects have fallen on deaf ears in the past.
“I think we have some serious problems,” he said. “I’m not sure we can do anything about it.”
But the planning and design of the three Victoria projects has been completed or is under way. That way the Texas Department of Transportation will be ready to act quickly if an economic stimulus package through the Federal Highway Administration makes money available.
“We’re still hoping that we get some funding and do some of the projects in the not-too-distant future,” Bena said. “If the funding levels stay the same, we’ll still only be able to do the smaller maintenance-type projects.”
Miller said he’s optimistic Texas will get money through the stimulus package. The question in his mind is how much of that will filter down to Victoria.
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TXDot business as usual. Build the road, see if anyone is killed and then make it safer. Any citizen of Victoria can tell you those are hazardous intersections. Why no overpass was built as part of the original construction is beyond me. But they did the same thing on 77 S and 1685/236. Family was killed and "OH we need an overpass to make it safer!" Sadly someone's son or daughter will need to die for TxDot to act.
April 15, 2009 at 10:34 p.m.Can we scratch the city council and the school board and start over? Ya know? a do over... please!!!
January 26, 2009 at 6:21 p.m.The bickering has got to stop..
You do realize that an overpass at the high school is way over the $3mill needed for downtown sidewalks, probably in the neighborhood of $15mil.
This community backed the school board into a corner in our desire to get rid of consolidation. In fact it seems to be de-consolidated at all costs. So here we are today, with $80mil in new schools, how many million in city funds for utilities and street work, and now seeking state funding for overpasses. And, basically abandoning two decent school buildings in the process. Wasn't part of VISD's previous problem not properly maintaining the facilities they had? Now they are going to have even more to maintain.
Hey Concerned Citizens group, how about trying to knock some sense into the VISD board? You know they are the lion share of my tax bill I just paid. They significantly raised their tax rate by .30 cents or so after the state lowered it. We're nearly back to where we were before the so call property tax relief.
January 26, 2009 at 5:59 p.m.Hey, as long as we get those sidewalks done downtown. Who cares about safety. And yes, I do know that this is state money, but we need to do what it takes to get the overpasses in and put the poor, poor folks downtown and their sidewalk project on the back burner.
January 26, 2009 at 5:14 p.m.I don't think that anyone on the school board was thinking about traffic or possible deaths of students when they chose that site for one of the new high schools. Honestly, I don't think they really care. They are getting their new "state of the art" facilities built, and de-consolidating. The rest isn't their problem.
January 26, 2009 at 4:23 p.m.what will it take? A few students being killed before they say it should be done? That school should never have been located there without some serious consideration for the safety of the students going out that way. I see major traffic jams, and even worse with the way the kids already drive out of the High School now.
January 26, 2009 at 4:07 p.m.This is one of the prjects they need to fund. Too bad the Texas Department of Transportation did not give the proper funds when the loop was being expanded. If you have to get on to the loop and cross traffic to get to the other side it is very dangerous.
January 26, 2009 at 3:42 p.m.