Inside Scoop: Texas Transportation Commission October 2026
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Inside Scoop: Texas Transportation Commission October 2026

Texas Transportation Commission members seated at the dais during commission meeting.

Oct. 30, 2026

By Laura Butterbrodt

AUSTIN – Here’s what the commission discussed and approved at its October meeting.

Rail

The commission awarded $9.2 million from the Texas Off-System Rail Grade Separation State Fund Program for the Union Pacific Railroad pedestrian crossing at Beitel Creek in San Antonio.

This funding is a part of a major award of federal funding used to leverage more than $756 million from the Federal Railroad Administration. The rail grade separation program projects will minimize the chance of crashes at railroad crossings by reducing interactions between vehicles, pedestrians and railroad operations.

Maritime

The commission approved the 2025-2026 Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GIWW) Report, which will be published and presented to the Legislature in the next regular session.

The report evaluates the GIWW’s economic impact, identifies principal problems and possible solutions, evaluates the need for significant modifications and provides specific recommendations for legislative action.

The GIWW provided $178.9 billion in total economic value in 2025 and supports more than a half million jobs.

Contracts

The commissioners awarded low-bid value contracts of $405 million for 35 highway improvement projects, $50 million for 23 routine maintenance contracts and $16.8 million to build a new maintenance facility in San Marcos.

Commissioner Robert Vaughn highlighted the completion of the $679 million Oak Hill Parkway project in Austin. He commended the project’s safety and mobility improvements, which include flyovers between major highways US 290 and SH 71, additional nonstop mainlanes and enhanced bicycle and pedestrian accommodations.

Oak Hill Parkway is part of the Texas Clear Lanes initiative, which has nearly reached $93 billion in completed, active and planned construction projects. Created in 2015, the program targets the most congested road segments in the state to address and relieve traffic choke points.

Memorial Sign Program

The Commission approved changes to the Memorial Sign Program, which offers commemorative highway signs to be posted near the site of a crash. Motorcyclists killed by another driver’s negligence and/or people killed in crashes caused by impaired driving on the state highway system are eligible to be honored with a sign.

The new program rules follow amendments made during the 89th Legislative Session to modify the sign design and to clarify eligibility, excluding motorcycle operators who were under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance at the time of the crash.

The new sign designs will replace the red cross symbol with a motorcycle safety message. Applicants can choose from the messages “Look twice for motorcycles,” “Share the road,” or “Watch for motorcycles.”

The memorial signs are posted for two years at the crash site, then are given to the applicant afterward to keep.

State Infrastructure Bank

Commissioners granted a State Infrastructure Bank loan of up to $15 million over 10 years to the City of Eagle Pass for utility relocation and extension in Maverick County. The SIB program assists communities with low-interest financing to meet their infrastructure needs.

100th Annual Transportation Short Course

Earlier this month, more than 3,000 Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) employees gathered in College Station for the 100th Annual Transportation Short Course.

The event consisted of two days of technical sessions and employee development programming. Additionally, it highlighted the work achieved by the organization and recognized individual achievement.

Those awards included:

  • Dewitt C. Greer Award: Amanda Austin (Design Division)
  • Gibb Gilchrist Award: Joseph Briones (Corpus Christi District)
  • Luther DeBerry Award: Omar De Leon (Austin District)
  • Raymond E. Stotzer, Jr. Award: Carl Schroeder (Bryan District)
  • Russell H. Perry Award: John D. Esparza, Texas Trucking Association
  • The Extra Mile Award, recognizing heroic acts in the field and employees going beyond their regular duties to help others: Michael Kinslow (Abilene District), Adam Smith (Dallas District), James Vlha and Travis Gibson (Fort Worth District), William McLane (San Angelo District), Valerie Followell, Ryan Richardson and Mitchell Kisel (Travel Information Division)

Commissioner Comments

Executive Director Marc Williams attended the Intelligent Transport Systems World Congress in South Korea, where TxDOT received the Local Government Award for the Cooperative and Automated Transportation (CAT) Program. Williams noted Texas is a global leader in autonomous vehicle operations thanks to the TxDOT CAT program’s innovation, which has helped improve connectivity and safety.