Uresti amendment would have set guidelines for gravel road conversions

AUSTIN — State Sen. Carlos Uresti on Monday filed an amendment to House Bill 1 in the 3rd called session that would have required the Texas Department of Transportation to follow specific guidelines and seek local input before converting paved highways into gravel roads.

Amendment 1 to HB 1 was filed in response to TxDOT's announced plan to tear up some 83 miles of asphalt roads in West and South Texas and convert them into gravel roads, due to the agency's funding shortfall and its inability to address the impact of the state's oil drilling boom on state roads. The plan also calls for reducing the speed limit on the converted roads to 30 mph.

Uresti, whose district includes both the Permian Basin and a large part of the Eagle Ford Shale region, called TxDOT's proposal "drastic" and said it was being imposed without input from the Legislature or local officials in the affected communities.

"The agency needs to take its foot off the gas, slow down, and think about this approach before going any further," Uresti said. "In its hasty solution to our state's pressing transportation needs, particularly in high impact oil and gas producing areas, the agency just might be going down the wrong road."

Uresti's amendment would have required TxDOT to develop a set of well-established criteria to be used in assessing any segment of the state highway system for conversion to gravel. If the assessment determines that a roadway is a candidate for conversion, the local community would be given an opportunity to mitigate the situation.

"There could be ways in which communities, industry, and possibly the state could work together to achieve alternatives to gravel conversions,"Uresti said.

For segments in which gravel conversion is a viable solution, the amendment would require TxDOT develop a set of criteria to assess the practicality and timeline for converting a gravel road back to a paved road.

"This amendment will help TxDOT in its planning process and give rural communities some confidence that most gravel road conversion will be only temporary," Uresti said.

Sen. Uresti represents Senate District 19, which covers more than 35,000 square miles and contains all or part of 17 counties, two international ports of entry, ten state parks, 51 school districts, almost 9,000 miles of highways and county roads, and more than 29,000 producing oil and gas wells. The district is larger than 11 states and 124 Nations, and contains almost 400 miles of the Texas-Mexico border.