By Dustin Fawcett
Roadways are perhaps the most important issue that county government must oversee. A long-standing issue with how our county government has been involved in roadway development has been the lack of vision, planning, and communication with all the entities involved. This must be fixed.
I have worked intensely in the road development side of public policy, and I admit the process can be convoluted. Ector County roadways are a combination of state and federal highways under the jurisdiction of TxDOT, county roadways under the county, and city of Odessa roadways under the city. With each of these various jurisdictions, the need for communication is of utmost importance.
The Permian Basin Metropolitan Organization (MPO) is a transportation agency made up of Midland, Ector, and Martin County officials, city of Midland and Odessa, as well as the TxDOT Odessa District Engineer and the EZ Rider General Manager. This organization is tasked with ensuring that federal and state dollars are spent wisely and in accordance with the region’s most vital needs.
A problem that I have seen is that the MPO makes these decisions on the region’s most vital needs without proper data, essentially leading to picking and choosing projects in a reactive, rather than proactive fashion.
The MPO, several years ago, was given hundreds of thousands of dollars (in the neighborhood of $700,000 last time I checked) in taxpayer funds to create a traffic demand model. I have previously brought this to the attention of the above-mentioned members of the MPO in an effort to begin data-based planning for our Ector County roadway system. Despite this allocation and subsequent software purchase, we have still yet to have this traffic demand model instituted. This model would scientifically identify constraint points, both current and future, based on the demographics and growth of our county.
The MPO, and its members, need to once and for all utilize this demand model so that we are no longer guessing at projects, but instead being good stewards of taxpayers’ dollars and choose projects that best benefit the citizens.
Had we conducted this model, it is my belief that we would already have a plan on the books for the current and most certainly future problem of Loop 338 and State Highway 191 interchange on the east side of Odessa. We must begin the planning process for what this interchange needs to look like as we are already seeing queuing backing up onto the main lanes of SH 191 to exit and enter Loop 338. We will soon be in a predicament that Midland was in with Loop 250 and SH 191 that is only now being resolved.
With the amount of population growth in this region, we must be on the leading edge of vision for our infrastructure improvements, not just in this specific area, but everywhere. Making Loop 338 a fully functioning metropolitan loop must be a priority both for traffic flow concerns and for economic development. Further, we must begin looking at backage roads spurring off the loop. These backage roads are what ultimately unlocks the frontage of the loop to commercial businesses beyond large oil and gas shops to much more diversified complexes.
There are needs everywhere in the county from a traffic signal in Gardendale at the intersection of FM 554 and the newly expanded Cottonwood, to the improvements of freight corridors and main arteries in both West Odessa and the Pleasant Farms area. Our vision is limited and as a result, our traffic improvements have been as well.
None of this is currently being talked about, let alone included in any planning documents. The planning process for any roadway project is a cumbersome and lengthy process. We must begin these conversations now. They should include the city, who would most likely end up annexing much of this property, about what time of vision we have for the infrastructure development and resulting economic development that follows.
For far too long we have lacked vision and planning. Ector County residents have vision and planning in their personal lives and make decisions based on these two factors. Private businesses also must have a vision and a plan for them to succeed. Ector County government should do the same thing.
Fawcett is a candidate for county judge in the GOP primary.
