TxDOT says it needs to spend $569 million to improve Eagle Ford roadways, according to a presentation released by the agency.
Related: Eagle Ford County Roads a Mess
In small towns all across the Eagle Ford, oil and gas activity has left a mess of the county roads system. Poor road conditions, increased traffic and heavy equipment brought on by the oil boom have contributed to the unsafe conditions.
In March, TxDOT began a new initiative to address these issues state-wide in hopes to provide safety enhancements on roadways across the state’s energy regions.
The improvements will include:
- Strengthening pavement structures
- Adding shoulders to protect pavement edges
- Adding turn lanes at key intersections
- Constructing passing lanes on Super 2 corridors
“TxDOT districts have identified energy sector projects, by prioritizing corridor segments that cross multiple districts, directly connect energy sector activity nodes or have high frequencies of injury or fatal crashes. TxDOT categorized these identified corridors into Priority 1 and Priority 2 groups based on the improvements needed. The table shows current estimates for Priority 1 funding needs in the five major energy sector regions.”
Eagle Ford Shale corridor priorities include:
- SH 97 (LRD, SAT, YKM)
- SH 72 (CRP, YKM)
- US 83 (LRD, SAT)
- US 59 (LRD, CRP, YKM)
- SH 16 (SAT, LRD)
- SH 85 (LRD, SAT)
- US 183 (CRP, YKM)
- US181/SH123 (CRP, SAT)
Roads in the Eagle Ford Shale are under intense pressure from the huge volumes of truck traffic that are regularly running up and down South Texas highways – literally hundreds of trips per day in many cases. And, often, the counties have not been able to keep up with the problems caused by the increased volume.