The public is invited to comment on a 10-year $85.1 billion highway plan for Texas that includes major projects in Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio and Austin, as well as Waco and Lubbock.

The Unified Transportation Plan, or UTP, is approved by the Texas Transportation Commission every August. The current plan will have a public hearing on July 26, with approval set for the Texas Transportation Commission meeting on Aug. 30.

What You Need To Know

  • The Texas Department of Transportation has posted its 10-year Unified Transportation Plan, UTP 2023, for comment

  • The plan includes $85.1 billion in road, bridge and maintenance projects across Texas

  • TxDOT will have a virtual hearing on July 26 to receive public input

  • The Texas Transportation Commission will approve UTP 2023 at its August board meeting on August 30

The public hearing on July 26 will be virtual. Information, and a copy of the plan, can be found at the TxDOT website here.

Transportation funding can be viewed by either region or purpose, with the purpose being three major goals: promote safety and decrease roadway deaths; preserve assets, be it roadway or bridge; and optimize system performance, both urban and rural.

Most road planning begins at the regional level. Each area with a population of over 50,000 has a Metropolitan Planning Organization that will list and prioritize the region’s road projects.

Those projects are scored by TxDOT and rolled up into the UTP. The plan is an intention — but not necessarily a commitment — to build projects. And, often, when a highway project is bigger — like Interstate 35 through Austin — it has a tendency to evolve and advance over multiple plans.

One out of every five dollars spent by the Texas Department of Transportation in the next decade is expected to go to road maintenance. Larger amounts of money also are dedicated to metro and urban corridors ($10.7 billion); statewide connectivity corridor projects ($12.7 billion); bridge rehabilitation and replacement ($4.1 billion); and safety projects ($3.8 billion).

Metro and urban corridors scheduled for upgrades in UTP 2023 include the Interstate 35 Northeast expansion in San Antonio; Loop 88, an outer loop in Lubbock; Interstate 35 widening through Waco; and the upgrade of State Highway 114 in Denton County.

Statewide connectivity corridor projects in UTP 2023 include U.S. Highway 80 widening in Dallas; Interstate 30 widening through Arlington; the State Highway 71/U.S. Highway 183 interchange in Austin; and widening Loop 1604 in San Antonio.

Additional regional connectivity projects will include widening U.S. Highway 69 in Southeast Texas and U.S. Highway 59 near Laredo. Funding also will provide relief routes for U.S. Highway 77 through Refugio and Sinton in South Texas.

The Texas Transportation Commission also has a discretionary pool of money, often referred to as Category 12. An estimated $2.3 billion has been set aside in UTP 2023 to address strategic priorities and clearing congestion.

Projects in this category include improvements to Interstate 10 in downtown El Paso, U.S. Highway 75 in Sherman, Interstate 20 through Abilene and the Interstate 10 San Jacinto River Bridge on the east side of Houston.