Title	Media
'Even More Stimulating" – Week of July 6, 2009 Programming note: I'm on vacation July 6-10. Since there won't be a podcast on July 10, this episode includes, where possible, TxDOT projects for the next two weeks. Also: Stimulus project begins on US 69 between Tyler's Loop 323 and IH 20 and other projects.
"Median Monday" – Week of June 29, 2009 Construction crews are scheduled to begin work on Monday on the area's final planned raised median project. The project, which calls for raised medians to be installed on West Loop 323 from US 69 north to just south of SH 64 west, will also see the intersections of Loop 323 and SH 64 and Loop 323 and US 69 widened to allow for additional turning capacity and free-right turns where rights of way permit. Work is scheduled to begin between SH 110 and SH 64 in front of John Tyler High School so the work can be completed in that area by the time school starts. The entire project is scheduled to take approximately 15 months to complete. Also: various projects.
Special Edition: An Interview with Amadeo Saenz, TxDOT's Executive Director From TxDOT's Statewide Podcast: Between planning for the now defunct Trans-Texas Corridor, shrinking returns from the motor fuels taxes, a department-wide reorganization, and, of course, the recent Sunset review and subsequent legislative session that left the department in limbo, TxDOT's Executive Director Amadeo Saenz has had his hands full since taking over in October 2007. With the regular legislative session over and a special session seemingly on the way, it seemed like a good time to find out where the executive director thought the department was, where it was going, and what message was sent to the department by a need for a special session.
Special Edition: NETRMA: Stimulus Money Spent Wisely on Toll 49 From TxDOT's Statewide Podcast: Loop 49, a proposed outer loop to Tyler, languished on the drawing board for more than 40 years from a lack of funding. While a lack of funding put Loop 49 in good company with thousands of other projects across the state, a local partnership between TxDOT's Tyler District, local cities and counties and the newly formed North East Texas Regional Mobility Authority found a unique way to move the project from the drawing board to groundbreaking. The first segment of what is now known as Toll 49 opened to traffic in August 2006, and the second followed in Decemer 2008, but funding again slowed development of further sections to a crawl. But this past March, the Texas Transportation Commission, TxDOT's governing body, closed the funding gap by approving nearly $39 million in stimulus funding to pay for the next segment. For more on TxDOT's first fully automated rural toll road, I spoke with Jeff Austin III, chairman of the North East Texas Regional Mobility Authority. For more information on the NETRMA and the plans for Toll 49, log on to www.netrma.org.
"A Last Hurrah" – Week of June 15, 2009 Construction crews are scheduled to begin setting barricades this weekend and work is scheduled to begin late next week on the next, and last in the forseeable future, raised median project. The project, which calls for raised medians to be installed on West Loop 323 from US 69 north to just south of SH 64 west, will also see the intersections of Loop 323 and SH 64 and Loop 323 and US 69 widened to allow for additional turning capacity and free-right turns where rights of way permit. Work is scheduled to begin between SH 110 and SH 64 in front of John Tyler High School so the work can be completed in that area by the time school starts. The entire project is scheduled to take approximately 15 months to complete. Also: various projects