Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced in a press release that the state will invest a total of $142 billion under the Texas Department of Transportation's (TxDOT) Unified Transportation Program (UTP) over the next 10 years to improve the state's transportation infrastructure.
“Thanks to our booming economy, Texas has achieved a major milestone in our transportation infrastructure with this record $142 billion investment that will strengthen our roadways and build a next-generation transportation network,” Abbott said in the press release. “Through this record transportation investment project, the State of Texas will further improve roadway congestion and safety to meet the growing needs of Texans in our large metros, rural communities, and everywhere in between. This plan will not only connect Texans from every corner of our state, it will also bolster our economic growth and ensure Texans and businesses continue to thrive for generations to come.”
Created by the TxDOT, the UTP was first announced by Abbott in February. Originally, the plan called for an investment of $100 billion. Its goal is to make transportation safer and more efficient.
The UTP outlines how the Texas Department of Transportation will expand its projects using input from the Statewide Long-Range Transportation Plan, the Metropolitan Transportation Plans, and the Rural Transportation Plan, as well as input from local officials, organizations, and the general public. With 12 sections addressing separate categories of infrastructure, the UTP is a detailed goal for the state, but nothing is absolute or guaranteed until the time of the build, the plan says.
“This historic investment in our transportation system is critically important to help meet the needs of our fast-growing state,” Texas Transportation Commission Chairman J. Bruce Bugg, Jr., is quoted as saying in the Abbott press release. “Thanks to the leadership of Governor Abbott and our Texas Legislature, Texas continues to see growth in the transportation investments needed to support a world-class transportation system focused on safety and congestion relief.”
“This plan will help the lives of all Texans for years to come as we work to move people and goods safely and efficiently in our rural, urban, and metropolitan areas,” TxDOT Executive Director Marc Williams said in the release. “TxDOT is already putting these resources to work with a record number of projects aimed at improving safety and saving lives on our roadways."
The Abbott release said the investment of more than $10 billion per year in the next 10 years "is expected to bring an estimated $18.8 billion per year in economic benefits" from increased labor income and business output and the addition of 70,500 direct and indirect jobs.
Abbott graduated from the University of Texas at Austin and attained his law degree from Vanderbilt, his official bio says. He was first elected governor of Texas in 2014 and was reelected for a third term in 2022. He has continued to lead Texas to be the number one state for business, and his strong conservative ideals have led him to be a supporter of creating more jobs for Texans, supporting and backing police funding, increasing healthcare services, and advocating for and protecting unborn children, his bio says. He also stresses the strengthening of Texas’ southern border to protect the people of Texas and America as a whole. He was named the “Best Governor in the Nation” in 2020, accrediting his success to wanting to preserve Texas values, the bio says.
