Inside Scoop: Texas Transportation Commission January 2026

Jan. 30, 2026

By Laura Butterbrodt

AUSTIN – Here’s what the Texas Transportation Commission discussed and approved at its January meeting.

Winter weather response

The commissioners and TxDOT Executive Director Marc Williams commended TxDOT employees for their response to the winter storm that affected most of the state over the weekend of Jan. 24.

Crew members dedicated long hours to 24/7 emergency operations shifts, beginning before the winter storm by pretreating roads for ice.

Overall, TxDOT spread more than 13 million gallons of brine and more than 50,000 cubic feet of granular material. Crews worked day and night to clear ice and snow from roadways, with some areas of the state still in 24/7 operations a week later.

Acting Commission Chairman Alvin New commended the partnership of TxDOT teams who worked to clear and treat roads across their regions, while also checking on and assisting neighboring districts as needed.

During the storm’s peak, there were more than 5,000 road segments affected by winter weather. TxDOT worked closely with other Texas state agencies and contracting partners to keep roads passable as quickly and safely as possible.

TxDOT urged drivers to stay home if possible and directed them to DriveTexas.org for up-to-date road conditions. During the weather event, the site had more than 1.6 million visits, and 11,000 calls were made to TxDOT Travel Information Centers.

Williams praised the robust response across the state and the long days and nights crews spent working on clearing roads.

2027 Unified Transportation Program development

TxDOT Director of Transportation Planning and Programing Humberto “Tito” Gonzalez Jr. presented the financial outline for the 2027 Unified Transportation Program. The UTP is a 10-year plan that guides the development of transportation projects across the state.

The UTP is anticipated to outline $94.5 billion in funding over the next 10 years. Including project development and routine maintenance contracts, the total estimated investment is expected to be $138.9 billion.

The department will now develop a draft plan to present to the Commission later this year, with expected adoption in August.

Commissioner comments

Acting Chair New shared preliminary data from 2025, showing a continued downward trend of average traffic fatalities. According to the preliminary reports, there were 10.2 fatalities per day on average, down from 11.3 in 2024. This number has continued to decrease every year since 2020.

He noted that while this is positive news, there is still work to be done by both TxDOT and the traveling public.

TxDOT continues to invest in engineering and innovation to build and maintain safe roads, as well as public education campaigns and partnership with law enforcement. However, New said, every person needs to take personal responsibility to make safe decisions and follow traffic laws so we can end the 25-year streak of daily deaths on Texas roads.

Williams shared that TxDOT hosted the 2026 National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Assignment Peer Exchange on the tail end of the winter storm. The event, held at TxDOT’s Austin headquarters, brought transportation leaders from state and federal organizations across the nation together to discuss ideas, experiences and collaborations.

New discussed leadership changes to the Texas Freight Advisory Committee. Judge Edward Emmett, former committee chair, retired in December after 13 years as chair. Gerry Schwebel has been appointed as the new chairman. He has been on the committee since 2016.

New also highlighted the $1.4 billion in federal funding for the Rural Health Transformation Program. The program, which will allocate $281 million each year for five years to Texas Health and Human Services, will help transform rural health care. New noted this could benefit in part the Texas Highway Trunk System expansion, which helps ensure rural areas have connectivity to communities with populations over 20,000 for health care access.

Contracts

The commissioners awarded low-bid value amounts of $484 million for 62 highway improvement projects, $32 million for 22 routine maintenance projects and $15.7 million for one building construction and rehabilitation project in Bandera County.

Aviation

The commission awarded $29 million in state and federal grant funding for capital improvement projects at six airports.

Public Transportation

The commission awarded $2.4 million in state and Federal Transit Administration project funds to support public transportation needs, including the purchase of additional fleet vehicles for the Electric Vehicle Pilot Program implementation.

State Infrastructure Bank

Commissioners granted three State Infrastructure Bank (SIB) loans:

• City of El Paso: Up to $14.8 million for the development of five Metropolitan Planning Organization projects in El Paso County.
• City of Granbury: Up to $16.8 million for utility relocation on US 377 in Hood County.
• RCH Water Supply Corporation: Up to $17.4 million for utility relocation on SH 205 in Rockwall County.

With the award of these loans, the SIB program has now granted more than $1 billion in loans since its inception in 1997. This low-interest financing has contributed to more than $9.6 billion in projects and supported 135 communities in meeting their infrastructure needs.