Hurd Secures $50M in Grant Funding for West Texas Infrastructure Improvements

It is imperative that West Texans have access to safe, reliable highways’

PERMIAN BASIN, TX – (RealEstateRama) — The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT)’s Texas Energy Sector Rural Improvement Program received $50 million through the U.S. Department of Transportation’s BUILD grant program to improve roads impacted by the Permian Basin energy boom in Winkler, Reagan and Glasscock Counties.

U.S. Representative Will Hurd (TX-23), was instrumental in securing the funds by penning a bipartisan letter of support signed by 21 members of Congress to U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao and by advocating for the projects separately to Deputy Assistant Secretary Sean McMaster.

“The Permian Basin energy sector employs 444,000 people, fuels ten percent of our state’s economy and produces thirty percent of our nation’s oil and gas. With production in the Permian projected to double in the next five years, it is imperative that West Texans have access to safe, reliable highways to accommodate increasing traffic,” said Hurd, who represents Winkler and Reagan counties where grant funding will be allocated. “These funds will allow TxDOT to connect the needs of local residents with state and national planning efforts, so that hardworking West Texans can continue to power our economy safely. I was proud to advocate on behalf of my constituents for these much-needed infrastructure improvements, and I will continue to deliver real results for South and West Texans.”

The BUILD grant funding will be allocated as follows:

• $25 million for the Winkler County Improvement Project, which will include a grade-separation overpass construction at SH 302, which has seen a nearly 400% increase in Northbound traffic and a 300% increase in Southbound Traffic, and SH 115, which has seen traffic increases of 175% in both directions; and,
• $25 million for the Glasscock and Reagan County Improvement Projects, a group of projects including a grade-separation overpass construction and strategic widening of SH 137 to add turning lanes at critical intersections, strengthened pavement structure and future fiber installation along the corridor.