Beyond I-35

The Texas Department of Transportation's 12-man 2030 Committee features names like Houston Astros owner Drayton McLane and Harris County Judge Ed Emmett.

And, while the committee is largely made up of those along the Interstate 35 corridor and points east, Odessa is represented by longtime traffic engineer Drew Crutcher.

"I've had a lifelong interest in transportation," Crutcher said. "It's something that's important to Texas. I think it's something I could help with."

The committee is responsible for helping determine how much funding will be needed for the state's highways over the next several decades.

James Beauchamp, executive director of the Midland-Odessa Transportation Alliance, said the committee was formed after TxDOT determined the state's road needs would amount to $86 billion over the next 30 years and the State Auditor's Office found the needs to be $68 billion.

"TxDOT thinks it will be higher than that, but they realized they need to hire some objective people outside of TxDOT," Beauchamp said.

So Deirdre Delisi, chairwoman of the Texas Transportation Commission, formed the committee of business and transportation leaders. It held its first meeting June 24, and will have its first public hearing Thursday in Austin. Meetings will follow that across the state.

Crutcher, a former Odessa city traffic engineer and chairman of MOTRAN, has a master's degree in transportation from Texas A&M University.

Despite a large presence of members from large metropolitan areas on the committee, Crutcher said West Texas is well represented with himself and David Marcus of El Paso.

"We have pretty good representation, I think," he said.

While he admits he has some concerns over the large number of representatives from the I-35 corridor, Beauchamp said he understands the "representation is where the people are."

"We're always at a disadvantage on that and the way we compensate for that is because we have strong leaders," he said.

And because of his understanding of the issues, Beauchamp said Crutcher is one of those leaders.

"He has a very good understanding of the issues," he said.

Beauchamp said he's not looking for Crutcher to use his position on the committee to push for the La Entrada al Pacifico trade corridor, MOTRAN's primary project.

"This study isn't about La Entrada, or things we'd like to see happen," he said. "This study is about the entire state - things broader in function than us."

Crutcher said he looks forward to helping with plans to keep congestion levels from worsening, and resolving the differences in cost projections.

While the committee won't determine the specifics of each individual road, Crutcher said it would make a difference with the state.

"Transportation is really the lifeblood of economic development," he said.  

2030 Committee members

>> Drew Crutcher, Odessa, Landgraf, Crutcher & Associates Inc.

>> Ken Allen, San Antonio, H-E-B.

>> Ruben Bonilla, Corpus Christi, Port of Corpus Christi Commission.

>> Jon Cannon, Dallas, FedEx Kinko's.

>> Harris County Judge Ed Emmett, Houston.

>> Tom Johnson, Austin, Associated General Contractors of Texas.

>> David M. Laney, Dallas, Law Office of David M. Laney.

>> David Marcus, El Paso, Marcus, Fairall, Bristol & Co.

>> Drayton McLane Jr., Temple, McLane Group.

>> Roger Nober, Fort Worth, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp.

>> Gary Thomas, Dallas, Dallas Area Rapid Transit.

>> C. Michael Walton, Austin, The University of Texas at Austin.