One year after Congress passed a historical infrastructure bill, some big money is flowing into Texas.
As of November, $13.9 billion in funding had been announced for the Lone Star State, including for 310 specific projects, according to the White House. The total is second only to California’s $16.2 billion.
The biggest chunk in Texas, $10.8 billion, will go to roads, bridges and other transportation projects. Several highway projects getting improvements are in Dallas-Fort Worth, including along Interstate 635 and near Loop 12.
“It is a wonderful infusion,” said Chandra Bhat, a professor in transportation engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. “These are useful investments for an infrastructure that has been in a dilapidated state for quite some time.”
Texas has been allocated funds in many other areas: $645 million for public transit, $246 million for clean energy and energy efficiency, and $147 million to build out a network of electric vehicle chargers.
Bhat touted the higher spending on new technologies, such as $35 million allocated for a new zero-carbon power plant at Dallas-Fort Worth Airport. The grant won’t cover the entire cost of the plant, estimated at $158 million, but more money could be coming soon.
“All these technology investments are moving us in the right direction,” said Bhat, director of the school’s Center for Transportation Research.
It’s not clear how much funding has been received already and how much is in the pipeline, awaiting various levels of review.
“It’s split across so many different programs and agencies that it’s hard to tell when the money is going to get there and the project will ultimately get done,” said Joseph Kane, a fellow at Brookings Metro, a Washington think tank that has created an infrastructure hub to track the awards.
The actual flow of the money depends on the agency, program and recipient, he said. Because so much funding follows the usual path for such improvements, highways and road projects are leading the way.
“A lot of these programs are just getting an extra zero or two added to the end of their budgets,” Kane said.
The extra federal funding is pushing many projects forward in Texas, and that reflects well on the state’s preparedness, said Travis Attanasio, president of the Texas section of the American Society of Civil Engineers.
The state had over 1,200 projects that were either “shovel-ready” or “shovel-worthy” in the first year after the infrastructure law passed, he said.
“They went out pretty quickly, and I know a lot of other projects are being put out there right now,” said Attanasio, who’s also a senior civil engineer for Burleson.
The labor shortage remains a major challenge, and not just for construction crews and engineering firms. It’s especially hard to find building inspectors, he said, and government agencies that want to land competitive projects need a range of expertise, from grant writers to accountants.
Even if you have the people, you may wait for supplies. Burleson has to wait nine months to get a signal light as part of a road improvement, Attanasio said.
While most infrastructure money will come from traditional formula funding, the law authorizes just over $200 billion for competitive grants. The North Central Texas Council of Governments, working with Dallas and DART, already won one: a $25 million grant to improve bicycle and pedestrian routes around multiple transit stations in Dallas.
The project calls for building over 30 miles of sidewalk within a half-mile radius of several DART light rail stations, including 8th and Corinth, Morrell, Illinois and Kiest. The Cedar Crest Trail will be extended about 1.5 miles, and 12 bus shelters along DART’s Bus Route 217 will be upgraded with digital signs and safety features.
Total cost of the project is estimated at $43.75 million with federal infrastructure funds covering about 57%, said Kevin Kokes, program manager in sustainable development for the North Central Texas Council of Governments.
Dallas is contributing $5.75 million and DART, about $3 million, he said. But the federal dollars have not arrived yet.
“We’re still working on the agreement,” Kokes said. “Once the agreement is executed, they’ll authorize us to proceed.”
He expects work to begin in early 2023. The grant application emphasized that improvements would reach a southern Dallas community where 17% of the population does not have access to a personal vehicle: “We’re serving primarily disadvantaged populations that are transit dependent,” Kokes said. “That’s one reason we thought this was going to be a very strong application.”
He’s working on additional grant proposals for the next round of funding, which are due by the end of February.
Nur Yazdani, a professor of civil engineering at the University of Texas at Arlington, is working on a proposal to use sensors to make bridges “smarter.” The sensors could detect changes in traffic, weight and durability, along with the impact of extreme weather. They will use artificial intelligence to help identify trends.
He said it would take a while to implement the many facets of the infrastructure law.
“We have to be patient and understand this is a huge bill,” Yazdani said. “And there are cities and planning organizations in Austin, Houston and beyond, and they’re all vying for the same pot of money.”
He’s been working with state highway officials and said the infrastructure bill has already had an impact on some major projects in Dallas-Fort Worth, including around Interstate 820: “Without that infrastructure infusion, those particular projects would be pushed back in time,” he said.
While federal infrastructure funding supports many routine or unsurprising upgrades, Bhat of UT-Austin is most intrigued by pioneering efforts.
Houston’s transit agency, Metro, got a $21.6 million grant to buy electric buses and charging stations to replace an aging diesel fleet. That will improve air quality in some disadvantaged areas, but Bhat considers that “low-hanging fruit.”
Austin’s transit agency, CapMetro, got $20 million to build a demand-response operations and maintenance facility, which will include a pickup service, along with community space for farmers markets and food pantries.
“I’m looking for more investments along those lines,” Bhat said. “We have to expand our public transportation network because we cannot build our way out of traffic congestion.”
