Texas Transportation Commission ties billions of dollars to I-35 central project
The Texas Transportation Commission amended its 2020 Unified Transportation Program on Thursday morning, throwing in $3.4 billion for the $6.6 billion central piece of the Interstate 35 Capital Express project that would expand the interstate between U.S. Highway 290 East and Ben White Boulevard [in Austin].
The project currently has no final design, and economic troubles from Covid-19 have thrown otherwise steady funding sources into question. Still, the decision reflects the Texas Department of Transportations preference to move forward with the project sooner rather than later, saving an estimated $1 billion by aligning construction with the Capital Express north and south projects and getting ahead of economic inflation.
The vote adds to the $560 million already included for the project in the 2020 UTP, but TxDOT Executive Director James Bass said the amendment should be understood as a guiding plan more than a commitment.
If you were planning on making a trip and started to say, Next year I want to make a trip to New York City and you started to plan for that, you have not made a funding commitment, Bass said. Now, if you buy a nonrefundable airline ticket, at that point you would make a funding commitment. By nearly planning and budgeting for a future activity, that is not a funding commitment nor a funding decision. Its merely a planning technique.
Read more: https://www.austinmonitor.com/stories/2020/05/texas-transportation-commission/