Where the rubber meets the road

The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) is split into 25 districts around the state. Cass County falls within the Atlanta District which encompasses the counties of Bowie, Camp, Cass, Harrison, Marion, Morris, Panola, Titus, and Upshur. Before a project is built, a study must be done to determine if it will fill a transportation need, will not negatively impact the surrounding area and fits the department’s overall plan. During the study phase, potential projects are analyzed to determine if they are cost-effective while also efficiently improving mobility. Some of these projects have moved beyond the study phase and are under construction. To get the latest information on projects in the Atlanta District check out the link below: https://www.txdot.gov/projects/projects-studies/atlanta.

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I-69 Alliance

The 1,100 miles of existing highways that make up the Interstate 69 Texas System route today serve as critical connectors to the deep-water ports at Houston, Galveston, Texas City, Beaumont, Port Arthur, Freeport, Point Comfort, Corpus Christi and Brownsville. Each completed Interstate 69 upgrade project extends the market reach of all Texas seaports which are vital engines of the Texas economy. Cass County is an active member in the Alliance for I-69 who have adopted the following legislative priorities for the 89th Legislative session.

• Protect and preserve all current transportation funding sources, including voter-approved prop 1 and Prop 7.

• Continue the policy of no diversions from the State Highway Fund.

• Support reauthorization of the Texas Mobility Fund. The current authority expires in FY2026.

• Preserve current project financing and development tools for successful construction of transportation projects. This includes the construction of toll roads and tolled managed lanes when supported by the local community.

• Ensure that Texas law encourages and does not deter localities from utilizing innovative federal funding programs to advance transportation projects.

• Support the creation of a Blue Ribbon Committee to analyze the unmet transportation funding needs of the State through 2050.

• Establish and maintain equitable fees on alternative-fueled

vehicles.

Sections of highway continue to be added to the Interstate Highway System as part of I-69. There are more miles along the I-69 route that are at freeway standard or near that level. More sections will be added to the system as they are evaluated and as projects are completed that provide the required controlled access, free flow and safety features that are the hallmark of interstate standard highways. As you can see from the map below, I-69 has many different segments. The segment through Cass County is currently US Highway 59 which has been designated future I-369 which would connect to Interstate 30 in Texarkana.

TEX-21

Cass County is a voting member of TEX-21 which is an organization whose purpose is to join together cities, counties, private businesses, ports, and transportation entities in a collective, informed voice to reach the State and Federal, Executive and Legislative Policymakers to improve transportation in Texas.

This effort includes strategies to increase investment in multi-modal transportation infrastructure, improve the planning and management of our transportation facilities, and increase the awareness of the importance of transportation to all areas of Texas. Cass County’s membership in this organization is a collaborative effort between Cass County and the cities of Atlanta, Hughes Springs, Linden, and Queen City, Economic Development Consortium.

Recently, TEX-21 included the I-369 corridor as a focus of the organization. It is a critical infrastructure piece that impacts the forts to ports initiative due to its proximity to Red River Army Depot and the Third Coast Initiative which advocates for future improvements along the Texas coastline.

NETRMA

Cass County is a active member of the Northeast Texas Regional Mobility Authority (NETRMA). Recently, the Cass County Commissioners Court appointed Mr. Matthew Nelson to represent the county on the NETRMA Board of Directors. Mr. Nelson served in the United States Marine Corps and after his service, obtained a business management degree from the University of Massachusetts. He currently holds a chartered property casualty underwriter (CPCU) designation and runs a personal and commercial insurance agency. This board position helps keep Cass County at the table as regional transportation projects are considered which have an impact on Cass County, its citizens and economic well being. To learn more about the NETRMA and its mission check out https://www.netrma.org/.

County roads see much needed increase in funding

Cass County maintains almost 1000 linear miles of county roads. A small portion of your ad valorem property tax is allocated to the county Road and Bridge fund. This fund has been significantly underfunded over the last several decades. In 2022 we provided an additional cash infusion of $400,000 due to the increased cost of materials. In 2023 we were able to allocate almost the same additional amount to the road and bridge fund. In the last year, we have done several things to address this issue long term. We established and set aside $4-million dollars to create a County Transportation Trust Fund which is invested for long term growth. Twenty-five percent of interest earned is reinvested to grow the fund and seventy- five percent of interest earned is distributed to the road and bridge fund annually.

We also shifted the financial impact of the commissioner’s salary from the Road and Bridge Fund and now pay for them directly out of the General Fund.

These and several other structural changes have resulted in a funding increase of over 20% for Road and Bridge funding in Cass County without raising the tax rate. We also requested and received over 9 times our annual allocation of road milling material from TxDOT which has allowed us to stretch our local budget further.

Our needs continue to outpace our resources to maintain county roads.

We have asked the legislature for assistance in a variety of ways.

One initiative is to exempt counties from paying the state motor fuels tax, and provide oil and gas producing counties like Cass County with additional funding to address the damage caused by heavy vehicle on our county roads.

Reach out to my office:

P.O. Box 825 Linden, TX 75563 903-756-5181, Ext. 0

Fax: 903-756-5732