Wednesday, July 08, 2026

TxDOT 2027 UTP: amid reduced funding, high priority projects are protected while others suffer

Another excellent analytical guest post from Oscar Slotboom, author of Houston Freeways. Some fairly big changes for TXDoT plans in Houston.
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The release of the new TxDOT Unified Transportation Plan (UTP) is the biggest annual event for TxDOT project funding. The UTP assigns funding to projects for construction in the next 10 years, determining which projects will be built and when they will be built. On July 3 TxDOT released the draft 2027 Unified Transportation Program.
Due to tight funding and project cost increases, TxDOT has focused Houston funding on three high-priority projects – NHHIP, the I-10 San Jacinto River bridge and SH 35 – and delayed, downsized or entirely removed other planned projects.
UTP funding declines
This chart (annotated with updates) included in a presentation at the January TxDOT Commission meeting shows the historical trend of UTP funding. Funding for 10-year periods peaked in 2025 at $104 billion, dropping to $101.6 billion in 2026 and $95.0 billion in 2027. Funding reduction is mainly due to reduced forecast federal reimbursements (page 4).
However, this small reduction in 10-year funding causes a much larger decrease in the new funding available for projects.
A simplified explanation of new funding starts with the 2026 overall funding ($101.6 billion) and subtracts the new contracts awarded, around $10.7 billion. This leaves $90.9 billion in funds previously committed to projects. New funding available is the new 10-year revenue forecast ($95 billion) minus the previously committed funds ($90.9 billion), which is $4.1 billion. This is a simplified explanation, and the actual value of new funding for 2027 with all accounting considerations is $4.97 billion. The harsh reality is that a small percentage decline in the estimated 10-year funding results in a much larger percentage decline in available new funding.
We can see in this chart that new funding available statewide has plummeted from $14.54 billion in 2025 to $4.97 billion in 2027. (See presentations for 2025, 2026 and 2027.) New available funding is not specifically reported prior to 2025; however, 2027 is the lowest value in many years, probably since at least 2023.
NHHIP
Of course, Houston has big funding needs with NHHIP. Committed funding for NHHIP projects (page 71) shows a slight decrease, from $5.174 billion in 2026 to $5.023 billion in 2027. However, this is mainly due to administrative shifting of funds between projects and scope changes for individual projects. Project 3C-2, scheduled to receive bids in March 2028, sustained a cost increase from $1.74 billion to $2.225 billion, and received extra funding to remain 100% funded. Project 3C-1 has a new $170 million drainage project which is 100% funded. Project 3C-4 was previously listed at $1.165 billion but is now listed as 3C-4A at $723 million, suggesting there may be a project split.
Project 3B-1, a drainage project, was awarded in June 2024 with a contract amount of $122 million and completion scheduled for 2027. Project 3-B2 was awarded in September 2024 with a contract amount of $696 million and completion scheduled for 2033. So far, the only visible progress on 3-B2 is the demolition of the Alabama Street bridge.
Here is a summary of all sections NHHIP and their funding status. Projects not yet included in the UTP (yellow background) and have no funding. These projects will need to be funded in future UTPs before construction can start. Start dates are subject to change and are taken from the NHHIP schedule and TxDOT project dashboard.
Section In UTP Est. const. cost, millions $* Funding, millions $ % funded Start const.
1A no 360 0 0% TBD, listed 2034
1B no 474 0 0% TBD, listed 2033
1C no 313 0 0% TBD, listed 2032
2A yes 607 100 16% TBD, listed 2031
2B no 1,015 0 0% TBD, listed 2032
3A yes 771.8 771.8 100% sched. letting Oct 2027
3C-1 (two projects) yes 442.3 195 44% listed 2028
3C-2 yes 2,225 2,225 100% sched. letting Mar 2028
3C-3 yes 398.4 398.4 100% listed 2027
3C-4A** yes 722.8 722.8 100% listed 2028
3D-1 (Eado) yes 1,481 610 41% listed 2030
3D-2 (West side) no 261 0 0% TBD, listed 2035
* For projects not in the UTP, estimates from the NHHIP site are used
** See explanation below.
For section 3C-4A, it is possible the cost reduction was achieved by the design change, which places all lanes over the "Be Someone" railroad bridge and eliminates the need to build a new, costly railroad bridge. It is unclear if there will be a separate 3C-4B project, which would mean section 3C-4 is not actually 100% funded.
Other Houston Projects
The Interstate 10 East Freeway San Jacinto River bridge is a high priority project which has sustained very large cost increases since its first inclusion in the UTP in 2023. In 2023 the cost was listed at $340 million, rising to $556 million in 2024, $810 million in 2026 and now $1.065 billion in 2027. The project remains 100% funded, with $256 million new funding in 2027. The project is not currently listed in TxDOT's letting schedule through 2029. This project goes through the San Jacinto River waste pits superfund site. Clean up of the south part of the site was completed in 2024, and in May the EPA ordered remediation to begin on the north part of the site. It is unclear if the remediation work will affect the construction schedule.
  2026 2027
  Cost Funded Cost Funded
I-10 San Jacinto River bridge $810 million $810 million $1.065 billion $1.065 billion
Construction of the new SH 35 Freeway adjacent to the University of Houston is currently in progress, and future projects will connect the freeway to Loop 610, including four connection ramps. The project received $30 million in new funding to remain 100% funded. However, this project has been delayed and will proceed to construction between 2031 and 2036.
  2026 2027
  Cost Funded Cost Funded
SH 35 Loop 610 connection $408 million $408 million $438 million $438 million
Interstate 10 between Katy and Brookshire will be expanded to 8 main lanes and 2 HOV lanes, similar to the design through Katy. However, this project has been shortened in the 2027 UTP with a $278 million reduction in funding. In 2026 the project extended from Mason Road in Katy to FM 359 in Brookshire. In the 2027 UTP the project is from Mason Road to Pederson Road (Texas Heritage Parkway), a length reduction of around 4 miles.
  2026 2027
  Cost Funded Cost Funded
I-10 Katy to Brookshire $895 million $895 million $618 million $618 million
Widening Interstate 45 on Galveston Island between the causeway and 61st Street has been delayed. The project was estimated at $126 million in 2026 and scheduled to start before 2029, but the cost has increased to $191 million in 2027 with no increase in funding, so it is now 66% funded and will need additional funding in a future UTP. Construction is sheduled to start between 2031 and 2036.
  2026 2027
  Cost Funded Cost Funded
I-45 Galveston $126 million $126 million $191 million $126 million
Casualties
Two previously funded projects are entirely removed from the 2027 UTP with their committed funding presumably transferred to higher priority projects.
The big news is the removal of all funding for the Inner Katy managed lanes. This project will add managed lanes in the gap between the existing managed lanes outside Loop 610 and the planned managed lanes on the NHHIP section of Interstate 10. The 2025 UTP positioned this project to be built concurrently or even before the Interstate 10 projects of NHHIP, with $987 million in funding covering 84% of the $1.17 billion project cost. A public meeting scheduled in May to present a new alternative was abruptly canceled nearly immediately after the meeting was announced. The Inner Katy project is entirely removed from the 2027 UTP. The absence of managed lanes on the Inner Katy will be a bottleneck between the existing and planned managed lanes, but this is unfortunately a consequence of financial and political reality.
Year Cost (millions $) Funded (millions $)  
2024 1,137 948.7 Project authorized and funded
2025 1,170 986.5
2026 322 69 All projects east of Washington Av. (Westcott St.) removed
2027 0 0 Project entirely removed from the UTP
A project to expand the non-freeway section of SH 249 inside Beltway 8 had $146 million funding in the 2026 UTP, 100% of project cost. It has been removed from the 2027 UTP.
These maps from the 2025 and 2027 UTP show the removal of the Inner Katy and SH 249 projects.
Conclusion
With minimal new funding available compared to recent years and rising costs on planned projects, TxDOT has focused available funds on the highest priority projects: NHHIP, the I-10 San Jacinto River bridge and SH 35. For NHHIP, funds have been shifted between projects to cover cost increases for upcoming projects. To cover cost increases on other priorities, low-priority projects have been delayed, downsized or entirely eliminated from the UTP, notably the Inner Katy managed lanes being entirely removed.

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Wednesday, July 01, 2026

Happy 250th to the USA!

A little different-than-usual guest blog post from Oscar Slotboom. Happy milestone birthday, America! 🎂🎆🎇🎉
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While cleaning out my father's house a few years ago, I found some old newspapers including the July 4, 1976, Bicentennial editions of the Houston Post and Chronicle. I was a 9-year-old growing up in Sharpstown in 1976, and – from the perspective of a 9-year-old – the Bicentennial celebration was a very big deal. There were school events, community events (like the ubiqitous painted fire hydrants) and national events like the Freedom Train coming to Houston. I remember standing in a very long line at Union Station to walk through the Freedom Train, only to be disappointed. (Artifacts displayed were not targeted to kids.)
Recently I took a closer look at the newspapers and confirmed that the Bicentennial really was a very big deal at the time, with a vastly larger observance than USA 250. Old newspapers are always interesting time capsules, so on the occasion of USA250, I will take us on a flashback tour of Houston on July 4, 1976. This long post is intended to be sampled – scroll down and click any images of interest. Prices in today's money are shown (in parentheses) after 1976 values, adjusted by multiplying by 5.83.
In Houston there was a 60-boat flotilla from Kemah to Allen's Landing, which drew a large crowd downtown.
A large national event was the Bicentennnial Wagon Train, in which a pioneer-era horse-pulled wagon traveled from each state to meet at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania for a July 4 event featuring President Ford. According to the map in the publicity brochure, the Texas wagon departed Houston on January 4, 1976.
The newspapers had special features including a 64-page insert "Vignettes of American History" in the Chronicle featuring local business leaders each with a story from American history.
Appropriately, the vignette of the July 20, 1969, moon landing features Houston Astros president Sidney Schlenker and general manager Tal Smith, touting that the Astrodome was still the only indoor stadium in Major League Baseball.
This vignette features Mickey Gilley.
Six female business leaders appear in the feature, including none other than Candace Mossler! Apparently she was still a respected member of the business community even after the scandal in the 1960s. For those not familiar, Candace, married to wealthy Jacques Mossler and living in River Oaks, had an affair with her nephew Mel Powers. On discovering the affair, Jacques moved to Florida and was murdered in 1964. Candace and Mel Powers were accused and tried in a sensational 1966 trial with shockingly lurid testimony of their relationship. Both were acquitted, and both went on to become successful in business. However, Candace died of a drug overdose on October 26, 1976, just four months after appearing in this Bicentennial feature.
The Post included a 32-page insert "Japan Salutes America on its Bicentennial" featuring adverstisements of Japanese electronic companies and their latest products. A tidal wave of Japanese electronics was just starting to reach the United States.
Long Gone Attractions
Astroworld had a special Bicentennial celebration for 13 nights (each night featuring one of the 13 original colonies) from July 4 to 16, including a nightly parade, raising a huge flag 300 feet up the space needle and a "gigantic fireworks display" with "a spectacular finale three times larger then any Astroworld has ever displayed." Tickets were $7.50 ($43.73) for adults and $6.50 ($37.90) for children.
I remember visiting Sea Arama MarineWorld around this time. Tickets were $4.75 ($27.69) for adults and $3.50 ($20.41) for children.
Busch Gardens was gone by the end of 1972, but Busch Bird Park remained operational. To see a color video of yours truly visiting Busch Gardens in 1972, check out this YouTube video. (I'm the taller, slimmer kid, on the left in the train. The other kid is my brother.) At the end of the video I ride on the elephant! I actually had no recollection of riding an elephant until I found the 8mm film while cleaning my father's house.
Entertainment
Bad News Bears was a very big deal for kids in Houston in 1976 (and possibly older folks too). It was a rare movie filmed in Houston and featured a long climactic scene in the Astrodome, with filming also done at Bayland Park in Sharpstown, which was super-exciting for us kids who played Little League there. This movie section advertisement shows it was still playing in cinemas 13 weeks after its release in April.
The two views below are a double blast from the past: Ike and Tina Turner scheduled for cabaret-style shows at the Grand Ballroom of the Shamrock Hilton during their "Explosion" tour.
Their marriage was turbulent, and it's unclear if the concerts actually happened because on July 3, 1976, Tina fled from abusive Ike. She left the Statler Hotel in downtown Dallas while Ike was sleeping, fleeing on foot southward and crossing Interstate 30 to find refuge at the Ramada (now Lorenzo) just south of the freeway. She hid from Ike three days in an 11th-floor room which has been branded the "Escape" room. (1, 2)
This advertisement suggests the Shamrock Hotel still had plenty of activity in 1976, with the Theater Under the Stars having 8 weekly performances of Cabaret. This scan also includes an advertisment for Dunfey's Royal Coach Inn in Sharpstown, which was a large hotel with a traditional English facade resembling a castle. My main memory is that one of the kids on the block had a pool membership and I occasionally was his guest to use its large swimming pool. The hotel was demolished in the 1980s and is now Gilchrist Chevrolet.
This ad shows the concert lineup for a venue called the Million Dollar City Dump at 300 Westheimer. I had not heard of this 500-seat concert hall, which according to the news report had just begun a new program to present "big name rock music talent". I immediately noticed that Journey was scheduled, which in the article is described as a "jazz-rock band". Tickets where $6.25 ($36.44),
In October 1977 lead singer Steve Perry joined the band, transitioning it to a more commercial sound that propelled it to huge success. In 1981 Journey reached its peak popularity with the Escape album. In November 1981 the Escape tour came to the Summit. One of the shows was filmed for MTV and the excellent video is available on YouTube. The Escape concert was the first concert I attended.
James Taylor performed at the Summit on July 4 with tickets costing $6.50 ($37.90) and $7.50 ($43.73).
This scan from the Chronicle shows four Country & Western themed clubs. Gilley's, Fools Gold and The Winchester all featured a "BEER BUST" on certain nights. I had never heard that term, so it had fallen into disuse by the time I paid attention to beer in the late 1980s.
Advertisements
1976 was probably the peak year for leisure suits. What says style better than a $14.88 ($86.75) leisure suit purchased at K-mart?
If you really wanted to impress, you could buy the $29.95 ($175) Haband leisure suit featured in the Parade magazine of the Houston Post.
The 1975 song Convoy by C.W. McCall was hugely popular with kids in Sharpstown. Citizen band (CB) radios were part of the convoy culture. This advertisement shows a CB radio on sale at K-mart for $128.88 ($751).
I remember many Continental Airlines advertising campaigns of the 1980s, including "If you could see us now, we'd like to take a bow" (to the music of "If My Friends Could See Me Now") and (in the 1980s) "I love New York" to promote the Newark hub. But I don't remember the 1976 slogan "We really move our tail for you". (LOL!)
The $9.53 ($57.32) nightly hotel price is super low by modern Hawaii standards, but the airfares $432.66, $397.71 ($2522, $2319) are high by today's standards, as United shows fares from $946 to $1092 for July (as of June 11).
With televisions being incredibly cheap these days (as low as $100 for a 40"), many people may not realize how expensive televisions were in the 1970s. A 19" Zenith color television promoted as a "Great Value Big Screen" cost $378.88, a shocking $2,209 in today's money.
Calculators were a rapidly expanding product in the mid-1970s. They were very expensive by today's standards, with a scientific calculator costing $49.95 ($291). I don't remember the Commodore brand of calculators. Commodore shifted focus to computers in January 1977 with the introduction of the PET computer, and Texas Instruments dominated the calculator market afterward. I remember a few kids in the neighborhood had calculators around this time – the kids with free-spending parents.
In the 1970s I remember that steel-belted radial tires was new technology which was heavily promoted, both in print and television. Radial tires were developed by Michelin in the 1960s and the introduction to the United States was very disruptive to the industry. Radials dramatically increased tire life, reducing demand for tires. Reduced demand combined with slow adoption by American manufacturers turned the American tire industry into wreckage, with only Goodyear remaining independent by 1988. Radials were more expensive than "polyesters", with a 78-14 steel-belted radial costing $36.88 ($215) and a 78-14 polyester costing $20.88 ($122). The Globe advertisement for $34.50 per tire ($201) spotlighted "Double Belted".
Personality and Politics
Richard Minns was well known in Houston for his success in the health club industry with Presidents-First Lady Spa. He was a publicity hound, and this Post article describes a stunt planned for September 1976, a "face off in a death battle with a Great White Shark" in American Samoa.
Six months after this article was published he met Barbra Piotrowski on an Aspen ski slope, and a 1994 article reports, "Back in the ‘70s, the millionaire and his young girlfriend were a glamorous presence on the Houston social scene." But the relationship became very turbulent and on October 20, 1980, there was a murder attempt on Piotrowski at a donut shop in Sharpstown at the corner of Beechnut and Gessner, close to my childhood home. Piotrowski accused Minns of orchestrating the murder attempt, but Minns was never charged. Minns fled the United States in 1981 and was arrested at LAX airport in 1994 on other charges.
The article reports Minn's office was at 7255 Clarewood. The building has been abandoned and dilapidated for years.
In 1976 the Republican Party was in a dire situation after the fallout from the Watergate scandal. This news section front-page Post article reports that Republicans held only 38 of 100 Senate seats and 145 of 435 House seats. It appears reporters were already liberally biased in 1976, as the article talks about a possible "death knell for the Grand Old Party, relegating it to the scrap heap of history", and that the 1980 reapportionment "could doom the GOP, should it survive that long, to perpetual minority status." Of course we all know what happened just four years later. In response to the malaise of the Jimmy Carter presidency and rampant inflation, voters delivered a massive victory to Ronald Reagan with 489 Electoral College votes to Carter's 49 and 50.7% of the popular vote to Carter's 41.0%, ushering in 28 years of conservative presidents (counting Clinton as a conservative).
Housing Developments in Houston
Many signature neighborhoods of suburban Houston were in the homebuilding phase in 1976, including the Woodlands, Kingwood and many in the FM 1960 corridor. Below is a collection of photos of full-page advertisments for these communities. If you apply the CPI inflation factor of 5.83 to these home prices, they are amazingly affordable. For example starter homes were in the range of $30,000 ($175,000) to $35,000 ($204,000), and larger homes in prestigious neighborhoods like Kingwood were priced in the range from $50,000 ($292,000) to $60,000 ($350,000). But mortgage interest rates were high by modern standards, 8.93% in July 1976.
The Woodlands had a huge Bicentennial celebration to bring potential homebuyers to the neighborhood. Bicentennial events included Revolutionary War themed events, a Smithsonian exhibit, the play "Star Spangled Girl", a "beautiful baby contest" and of course fireworks.
Perry Homes offered homes between $49,800 ($290,000) and $57,600 ($336,000) in Kingwood, making the dubious claim of a "location close to downtown".
The FM 1960 corridor was the most popular area for home construction. Images below show Ponderosa Forest (featuring recently deceased homebuilder Vincent Kickerillo), Lakewood Forest, Prestonwood Forest, Wimbledon Estates and the most expensive neighborhood Greenwood Forest (maybe because it is closer to Houston?)
Back in 1976 the roads serving the FM 1960 communities were very primitive. Beltway 8 (Sam Houston Tollway) did not exist, FM 149 (now the SH 249 Freeway) was a two-lane country road, and FM 1960 was a four-lane undivided (and 50 years later remains a nightmare to drive). The Wimbledon Estates ad claims "23 minutes to downtown Houston". LOL! - maybe on Sunday Morning!
The Houston Post included a 1971 map (5 years out of date) with new home communities identified and future freeways indicated by dashed lines. The map shows the precursor of the Fort Bend Parkway labeled as the Bay City Freeway.
The images below show advertisements for starter homes, starting as low as $27,750 ($162,000) but mostly in the $30,000 to $35,000 range, which is very affordable by today's standards. As the Wood Bros. Homes ad says, "prices young families can afford".
Job Listings
If you are wondering what jobs paid in 1976, expand the following screenshots from the job listing section of the Houston Chronicle. It shows that professional jobs for experienced candidates made between $18,000 ($105,000) and $30,000 ($175,000) per year. Mechanics at Don McMillian Ford (10333 Katy Freeway) were paid $8 ($46.64) per hour.
In the 1970s I remember stories about people working offshore energy industry jobs to receive very lucrative salaries. This advertisement for Alaska Overseas Inc. says that top-paying blue-collar jobs paid between $45,000 ($262,000) and $65,000 ($379,000). Yes, very lucrative!
Predictions
The Post included a special section with predictions for year 2076. Long-term predictions are often laughably wrong, but halfway to 2076, predictions by two local professors were surprisingly priescient.
Electrical Engineering professor Thomas Rabson at Rice University predicted that energy sources will be slow to transition from oil and gas, and fusion still will not be practical in 2076, which is true today and will probably be true in 50 years. There are many fusion startups but most (or all) are pushing back timelines (as usual for fusion) or switching to other business opportunities. This article also talks about solar energy, hydrogen and superconductors.
Professor Jib Fowles at the University of Houston Clear Lake accurately predicted the decline of marriage, the Silicon Valley work ethic and the rise of artificial intelligence. He predicts a utopia-like distant future where machines do most work, leaving humans with plenty of time for leisure and eventually infinite longevity for humans. While he did not predict social networking and social media, he said people would become less dependent on traditional human company. He was an optimist about technology improving people's lives, like Elon Musk is today.
Architect Robert Rasbach predicted a future of decentralized and electronically connected communities. Some of this happened after Covid. Another architect predicted "prefabricated units are the answer to high cost housing", as if the cost of housing was high in the 1970s!
In 1976, the technologies which would transform many aspects society in the next 50 years were nascent, or still laboratory curiosities. The internet, cell phones, fiber optic communication, personal computers, Moore's Law for semiconductors and digital media were all poised to define the next 50 years. For Houston, horizontal drilling and fracking were the most influential technologies. Younger readers of this blog can expect to live long enough to see the Tricentennial in 2076. There's sure to be plenty of excitement and surprises between now and 2076!

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posted by Max Concrete @ 7:24 PM 0 comments