Texas counties vote to approve transportation funding

Voters in four Texas counties decided Tuesday, Nov. 7 whether to borrow more than $1.5 billion to help address transportation funding needs.

Collin County

Tuesday’s ballot in Collin County asked voters to provide bonds for road work throughout the sixth largest county in the state.

By a 75% to 25% margin, voters in the north Dallas locale overwhelmingly approved Proposition E to provide $380 million to pay for highway projects that include the development of the Collin County Outer Loop. Another project that will benefit is the ongoing expansion of U.S. 380. The route begins in Greenville, Texas, and extends through the New Mexico line to San Antonio, N.M.

Parker County

Ballots in Parker County included a question about whether to authorize a $130 million transportation bond.

The last transportation bond approval in the locale located directly west of Fort Worth occurred in 2016. At that time, $56 million in bonds was applied for the East Loop. Another $19 million was allotted for various county projects.

Voters on Tuesday approved Proposition A by a 59% to 41% margin. Passage permits another bond authorization that will result in an estimated 3.2-cent increase to the county’s debt service fund.

Money can be used for 35 projects around the county. Parker County will be responsible for 15 projects. Cities will receive funds for another 12 projects. Eight more projects will be the responsibility of the Texas Department of Transportation. Advocates said the transportation bond is necessary to address 34% population growth since 2010. The county touts its rank as sixth in the nation on the list of fastest-growing counties.

Travis County

A question on the Travis County ballot called for tapping bonds to pay for $233 million in transportation work.

Voters in the state’s fifth-largest county, which includes the city of Austin, approved the measure by a 76% to 24% margin. Proposition A covers road and safety projects. One notable project is construction of a new four-lane divided highway from Blake Manor Road to Taylor Lane to Burleson Manor Road. The project has a $15.3 million price tag.

Another project is construction of a new four-lane divided roadway with sidewalks and bike lanes on Arterial A. The county’s estimated construction cost is $23.5 million.

The roadway is a major north-south connector between Farm to Market Road 734 and U.S. 290 East, located in northeast Travis County.

Williamson County

Voters in Williamson County approved a question about whether to use bonds to address transportation needs.

Its passage marks the fifth time since 2000 that voters in the county directly north of Austin approved bonds for improvements to roads and state highways.

This year’s ballot question, Proposition A, authorizes $825 million for road projects around the state’s 12^th-largest county. Advocates said the bonds are needed to help the county keep up with 10% population growth from 2020 to 2022.

The Williamson County Citizens Bond Committee earlier this summer recommended a $1.7 billion transportation bond.

Proposition A will apply road bonds for constructing, acquiring, maintaining, expanding and improving nearly 40 road, bridge and state highway projects. The full list of projects is available here. LL

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