TxDOT History

The Texas Legislature established the Texas Highway Department in 1917. This timeline lists major milestones and events during our history.

Present to 2006 | 2005 to 2001 | 2000 to 1971 | 1970 to 1951 | 1950 to 1931 | 1930 to 1917

2010

• December 16 - The Commission authorized using a $5.6 million Federal Railroad Administration grant to study a proposed passenger rail facility from Oklahoma City, Okla. to Dallas/Fort Worth with a possible extension to South Texas.
• November 18 - The Commission approved the 2035 Statewide Long-Range Transportation Plan, providing for the development and implementation of a multimodal transportation system containing all modes of transportation.
• October 28 - Texas received $5.6 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation for planning high-speed intercity passenger rail service from Oklahoma City to Dallas-Fort Worth.
• October 15 - The Tower 55 project received a U.S. Department of Transportation competitive grant of $34 million. This grant was to alleviate congestion at one of America’s busiest rail intersections in Fort Worth. It was part of a long-awaited funding solution to streamline passenger travel and international trade operations in the area.
• October 1 - The department implemented the Internet-based CRAFT (Customer Relationship and Feedback Tracking) system. The system allowed the agency to track customer feedback content and response time from receipt to resolution.
• September 1 - The 2011-2015 TxDOT Strategic Plan, adopted by the Texas Transportation Commission, went into effect. The plan established new vision and mission statements for the department. It also included a set of values statements representing agency commitment to core principles guiding day-to-day work. The strategic plan presents information on factors shaping transportation such as population growth, funding challenges and the department’s human resources and technology resources planning efforts.
• August 24 - A state safety report showed an unprecedented 11-percent drop in highway fatalities for 2008. The drop was attributed to $1.5 billion invested over the previous five years in safety bond improvements.
• August 13 - A maintenance and pothole complaint reporting form was added to the department’s website. Texans were encouraged to report roadway conditions to assist district maintenance personnel in locating pavement problems on our 80,000-plus-mile network of roadways.
• August 10 - The department introduced its new interactive voice response interface for the Texas Travel Information Line, which provides both road conditions and travel information 24 hours a day at 1-800-452-9292.
• July 29 - The first contract using Proposition 12 bond proceeds was awarded. The $166.8 million contract for widening a 13-mile stretch of I-35 from four to six lanes, from Loop 340 north of Waco to FM 1858 in West, was awarded to Williams Brothers Construction Company of Houston.
• July 20 - The Federal Highway Administration issued a “no action” decision on the Trans-Texas Corridor 35 (TTC-35). This action formally ended further advancement of the project.
• July 2 - The Commission established the TxDOT Restructure Council to evaluate the Grant Thornton report, as well as other audits and reviews, and present implementation priorities to the Commission. The Council was comprised of Howard Wolf, Jay Kimbrough and former Texas Transportation Commissioner David Laney.
• May 26 - The final Grant Thornton report was submitted to the Commission. The top-down management and organizational review was recommended by the Texas Legislature.
• May 17 - A statewide audience of more than 1,000 watched the department’s first “Road Show” webcast. Executive Director Amadeo Saenz hosted the program, with Commission Chair Deirdre Delisi as his first guest.
• March 26 - The TxDOT Tracker and Project Tracker went live on the department’s website. The TxDOT Tracker gives the public easy access to statewide performance measures and results. The Project Tracker, used to monitor statewide construction, went online again after a database upgrade sidelined the program in 2009.
• February 25 - The department announced that $2.25 billion from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) had been obligated to statewide projects.
• January 28 - The Federal Railroad Administration awarded $11 million of available American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding for high-speed and intercity passenger rail to the department.

2009

• December 1 - The department’s first Rail Division was established with the hiring of Bill Glavin as division director to oversee development of a comprehensive statewide passenger and freight rail network plan.
• November 19 - The Commission approved a list of 70 projects to be funded with Proposition 12 bond proceeds. The projects were designed to relieve congestion and improve the statewide corridor through rehabilitation, safety and mobility projects.
• November 1 - The Texas Department of Motor Vehicles was established. Recent state legislation mandated the creation of the new agency to assume operation of three TxDOT divisions - Vehicle Titles and Registration, Motor Vehicle and Automobile Theft and Burglary - and a portion of the Motor Carrier Division.
• October 7 - The “no action alternative” was recommended by TxDOT in response to the completed Federal Highway Administration environmental study to develop TTC-35. The recommendation effectively ended TTC-35.
• September 24 - The Commission was briefed about Proposition 12 guidelines developed by department staff and metropolitan planning organizations. The Commission directed the department staff to develop a list of the highest priority project for implementation.
• August 27 - The Commission was briefed by the department staff on potential uses of Proposition 12 funds. The Commission also directed agency staff to meet with metropolitan planning organizations to develop project selection priorities.
• July 10 - Governor Rick Perry signed House Bill, authorizing use of $2 billion in general obligation bonds for highway construction. The funding was to be repaid using general revenue funds instead of motor fuel taxes.
• July 2 - A Special Session of the Texas Legislature, called by Governor Rick Perry, was adjourned after reauthorizing TxDOT for another two years. It also authorized $2 billion in Proposition 12 bond proceeds for building of non-tolled highway projects.
• June 25 - The department signed a contract with management consulting firm, Grant Thornton, LLC, for a top-down study of the agency. The study, as directed by the Commission, was to review, analyze and propose recommendations for modernizing and improving the agency’s management and organizational structure.
• June 1 - The department was “sunsetted” when the Texas Legislature adjourned without reauthorizing the agency for four more years. Without legislative action the agency faced closure by September 1, 2010. The early adjournment also left the fate of $2 billion in road building bonds uncertain.
• March 26 - The Commission approved the department’s regionalization plan, establishing four Regional Support Centers to allow districts to concentrate on maintenance functions.
• February 24 - The department received $2.5 billion in federal stimulus funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) to build shovel-ready infrastructure projects.
• January 6 - Executive Director Amadeo Saenz declared that the department would take no further action to develop the Trans-Texas Corridor.

2008

• December 18 - The Commission approved broadening regulations regarding public involvement for the Trans-Texas Corridor to allow more organizations to participate in segment committees.
• November 19 - The administration decided to continue using current goals - to reduce congestion, enhance safety, expand economic opportunity, improve air quality and preserve the value of our transportation assets - to implement Sunset Commission recommendations.
• October 28 - The Houston District celebrates the completion of the Katy Freeway Reconstruction Project, the largest reconstruction program ever performed in Texas.
• September 13 - Hurricane Ike struck the Texas coast, making landfall at Galveston Island. More than 1,100 TxDOT employees were mobilized to clear roadways and restore traffic.
• June 3 - The Texas Sunset Advisory Commission released its review of TxDOT, indicating the need for greater accountability, transparency and responsiveness and establishing a four-year review cycle and legislative oversight committee to address these issues.
• May 29 - The Commission adopted policies that govern the development, construction and operation of state toll road projects and the Trans-Texas Corridor. The policies reflect citizen input from the public comment phase of I-69/TTC.
• April 30 - Governor Perry named Deirdre Delisi as chair of the Texas Transportation Commission and William Meadows as a new commissioner.
• March 27 - The Commission selected members to serve on the Trans-Texas Corridor Advisory Committees. The two committees were created to generate public dialogue in the planning and development of the corridor.
• February 28 - The Commission approved the Lone Star Texas design for the state’s new general-issue license plate. The move endorsed an online voters’ selection of a design that features the big Texas sky, the Lone Star and the mountains of West Texas.
• January 15 - An unprecedented public comment period regarding I-69/TTC began with 11 town hall meetings and 46 public hearings scheduled in through early March.
• January 7 - Two new positions were added to the department administration. They are assistant executive directors in charge of district operations and innovative project development.

2007

• December 30 - Texas Transportation Commission Chairman Ric Williamson died of a heart attack at age 55.
• December 21 - The department and the North Texas Tollway Authority reached an agreement on the terms, conditions and cost assumptions to build SH 161 as a toll road.
• December 13 - The Commission approved the creation of advisory committees to provide public input on where the Trans-Texas Corridor should be located, what it should look like and how it should be developed to best serve local communities.
• December 11 - A program was initiated to help inform the public of the dangers of drinking and driving, allowing friends and family members of DWI victims to purchase memorial signs to be placed near the location of fatal crashes. The 80th Texas Legislature created the program aimed at reducing the more than 1,670 DWI-related traffic fatalities in 2006.
• December 3 - The department made a formal request for proposals from two private development teams for detailed plans on how to finance, design, construct, operate and maintain I-69/TTC.
• November 13 - The Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the proposed I-69/TTC project was released. The 1,072 page report is the result of nearly three years of work with local officials and input from citizens through hundreds of public meetings. State transportation officials will work to identify an alignment for I-69/TTC, which will make transportation safer, faster and more reliable and provide for faster hurricane evacuation.
• September 27 - The Commission appointed Amadeo Saenz, assistant executive director for engineering operations, as executive director of the department, effective Oct. 1.
• September 1 - The Ports-to-Plains Corridor took a step closer to becoming a reality with the announcement of a working group to develop a financial master plan for the western trade route. The corridor project is intended to expand economic opportunity and serve international trade fro Mexico to Canada. The roadway will stretch from Laredo through West Texas to Denver, Colo.
• July 26 - The Commission approved the addition of six new counties to the Northeast Texas Regional Mobility Authority (NETRMA): Bowie, Cass, Panola, Titus, Van Zandt and Wood.
• June 28 - The Commission approved a recommendation from North Texas leaders to accelerate improvements to SH 121 and 30 other congestion relieving projects throughout North Texas by pursuing a proposal from the North Texas Tollway Authority (NTTA).
• June 14 - The Texas Transportation Commission authorized the department to work with local toll entities, including regional tollway authorities, regional mobility authorities and counties to move forward with 87 projects that are currently years away from being fully funded.
• March 29 - State transportation officials authorized funding reductions for multiple highway programs in response to a mandate from the federal government to return $288 million to Washington by April 19.
• February 28 - The Commission approved the staff recommendation to negotiate a comprehensive development agreement with the Cintra consortium for the SH 121 toll project in Collin and Denton Counties. As part of its proposal, Cintra agreed to pay the region $2.8 billion to be used on other congestion-relieving projects.

2006

• December 13 - The northernmost 14 miles of the SH 130 toll road opened. The segment, which stretches from north of Georgetown to US 290 on Austin's east side, allows drivers to travel from Georgetown to Austin without using I-35.
• November 1 - The Department opened approximately 27 miles of toll roads in North Austin and eastern Williamson County a year ahead of schedule and under budget. The first sections of the 66-mile, $3 billion toll project will be toll-free until January, with a 14-mile segment of the project coming online in December followed by another 29 miles in 2007.
• October 18 - Texas became the first state to receive tax-exempt federal private activity bonds (PABs) since the bonds became eligible to fund highway projects. The bonds, totaling $1.8 billion, were made available through approval of the Texas Transportation Commission. The bonds will accelerate development of SH 121 in the Dallas area. Legislation stipulates private companies become the ultimate borrowers of the funds and arrange to repay the debt through toll revenue rather than state funds.
• September 29 - The celebration of the 20th anniversary of "Don't Mess with Texas," the TxDOT anti-littering slogan, continued as Advertising Week named the famous catchphrase the top ad slogan of 2006. The famous slogan became a sensation when first uttered by singer Stevie Ray Vaughn in an advertising campaign launched during the January 1986 Cotton Bowl. The slogan, which has been commemorated on T-shirts and bumper stickers and popularized by politicians and athletes, defeated more than 20 other slogans to achieve a spot in the Madison Avenue Advertising Walk of Fame.
• September 28 - The master development plan for the first phase of the Trans-Texas Corridor 35 segment (TTC-35) was released. Designed by Cintra-Zachry, the plan envisions a parallel alternative toll road to I-35, funded by the private sector. The project will include multiple separate lanes for tractor trailers, passenger vehicles, commuter and freight rail as well as a utilities passageway.
• September 1 - TxDOT awarded a record $5.3 billion in mobility-improving construction projects in the 2006 fiscal year. The total surpassed the $4.5 billion obligated the previous fiscal year and almost doubled statewide spending four years ago.
• August 1 - The department finished equipping all state rest areas with free Wi-Fi for wireless personal computer operations. An estimated 50 million people use the 100 rest stops every year - 100 people per minute.
• June 29 - The Texas Transportation Commission approved the first comprehensive development agreement, estimated at $1.3 billion, with the Cintra-Zachry consortium to finance and build the 40 remaining miles of State Highway 130 from Austin to Seguin. The public-private partnership will finance costs of the project in return for the right to collect tolls on the roadway over the next 50 years. Tolls will be collected via use of an electronic device called a TxTag, which debits user accounts for the amount of the required fee. The turnpike is expected to open by 2012.
• June 14 - Proposals for development of TTC-69, a segment of the Trans-Texas Corridor, were received from two competing private-sector groups, marking the beginning of development of the 600-mile, multi-billion dollar project, which will extend from Northeast Texas to Mexico.
• May 25 - Texas became the first state in the nation to set an 80 mph daytime speed limit on 521 of its more than 79,000 miles of highway. The higher speed is posted only in low-population areas in the western portion of the state and amounts to less than one percent of the state roadway system. The limit was approved by a unanimous vote of the Transportation Commission based upon legislation enacted during the last regular session of the 79th Legislature. Passenger vehicles and light trucks are the only means of transportation affected by the change.
• April 11 - The department issues a request for qualifications as the first step in a competitive selection process to develop a public-private partnership for developing the I-69/Trans-Texas Corridor from Northeast Texas to Mexico.
• April 4 - The Federal Highway Administration approves a 4,000-page draft environmental impact statement for the Trans-Texas Corridor 35. The report narrows the corridor study area to roughly 10 miles wide from Gainesville to Laredo.
• March 29 - A private-sector proposal submitted to the department by Cintra-Zachary declares that the consortium believes a new 600-mile freight-rail line from Dallas-Fort Worth to Mexico is timely and ready for development. As envisioned, the rail project could pull one million trucks a year off of I-35.

Present to 2006 | 2005 to 2001 | 2000 to 1971 | 1970 to 1951 | 1950 to 1931 | 1930 to 1917