Governor Perry has named Texas Transportation Commissioner Hope Andrade as interim Chair to succeed Ric Williamson, who died December 30. Andrade has been a member of the Commission since 2003 when she was appointed by Perry after the Commission was expanded from three to five members.
Perry names Andrade interim transportation chairman - Houston Chronicle
Interim chair named at transportation commission - Austin Business Journal
The TXDOT Austin District’s courtesy patrol - the H.E.R.O. (Highway Emergency Response Operator) program - is another victim of the agency’s budget problems. The program loses funding February 1.
The patrol program, in operation for eight years, helped keep traffic congestion down by helping stalled and disabled vehicles. The service helped over 3,000 vehicles statewide in 2007.
TXDOT’s courtesy patrol to be eliminated - KXAN
Courtesy patrol likely on the chopping block - Austin American-Statesman
Texas Transportation Chair Ric Williamson died last night from an apparent heart attack. Williamson was appointed to the Commission by Gov. Rick Perry in March 2001 and became the Chair in January 2004.
More information:
With TXDOT budget cuts trickling down to the local levels, Austin District Engineer Bob Daigh predicts that the district could rely on the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority (CTRMA) to pick up the slack.
The Austin District’s right-of-way budget has been cut in half and the consultant budget was decreased by 57%. As of February, added capacity projects will be halted through the end of the fiscal year. Worse news: budget reductions could remain in place through 2009.
To help ease the burden, the Austin District is negotiating with the CTRMA to begin design work on projects that the District no longer has the budget for, including five toll projects approved in the CAMPO 2030 Plan and MoPac managed express lanes.
TXDOT Executive Director Mike Behrens has announced his retirement effective August 31, 2007.
Behrens became executive director Sept. 1, 2001. In that position he is responsible for managing, directing, and implementing TxDOT policies, programs, and operating strategies and representing TxDOT before the Texas Legislature and other entities.
Austin American Statesman: Transporation Chief to Retire in August
Sen. Kirk Watson announces the filing of SB 688 - Tolls Transparency and Accountability Act, which you may have read about in today’s news (Austin American Statesman). A copy of the bill text in .pdf format is available at http://catransco.org/Documents/Legis/State/SB00668.pdf
Briefly, the bill would:
An article from the Austin Chronicle comparies projections regarding the gas tax increase amount necessary to cover the projected funding gap for the eight statewide urban area transportation needs - the amount beyond those eight MPO’s constrained long-range regional plans. For the CAMPO area, the shortfall for infrastructure outside of the 2030 Plan and the Phase II toll roads is about $10 billion.
This Dallas Morning News article recounts the tempestuous exchange between Senator Transportation Chair John Carona and Texas Transportation Commission Chair Ric Williamson.
Carona showed up at a House Transportation Committee meeting on Tuesday, Feb 13. When invited to speak by House Transportation Chair Mike Krusee, Carona stated that he was there to set up a meeting with Williamson as Williamson’s staff indicated his calendar was booked through March. When Williamson declined to schedule a meeting that week (offering a follow-up to call the Senator instead), Carona let forth a barrage of criticism for both Williamson and the Texas Department of Transportation.
Ben Wear also reported on the confrontation in the Austin American-Statesman’s online blog Postcards from the Lege.
A Managed Lanes Open House hosted by the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) and the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) has been rescheduled for Tuesday, February 20, 2007 from 6:00 to 8:30 PM at the Thompson Conference Center at UT. The open house will provide information about managed lanes, a new approach that provides options for freeway travel. The informal structure will allow attendees to come and go at their own pace by visiting various display stations and interacting with managed lane experts.
Brief presentations on managed lanes will also be provided every 30 minutes and fact sheets with other printed resource material will be available to attendees. Information on successful managed lane facilities in San Diego, Minnesota, Denver, Houston, and Orange County, California will be featured at the open house.
If you have any questions, please contact Ginger Goodin at g-goodin@tamu.edu (TTI).
Governor Rick Perry has appointed two new commissioners to the Texas Transportation Commission to fill the vacancy left by newly-elected Texas State Senator Robert Nichols and allowing John Johnson, whose term expired in 2005, to step down.
Fred Underwood, president and CEO of Trinity Co., a cotton bale storage facility, takes Nichols’ former office while Ned Holmes, chairman and CEO of Parkway Investments, a real estate management/development company, will replace Johnson.
More changes on the Commission could be coming soon. Both Commission Chair Ric Williamson and member Hope Andrade’s terms expire in February.
For more information, see the Austin American-Statesman article at: http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/01/09/9commisioners.html.
In other Statesman news, CATC Board member Jim Skaggs weighs in on the air quality debate in the commentary section of the Op-Ed page. The article can be read here: http://www.statesman.com/opinion/content/editorial/stories/01/09/9air_edit.html