TXDOT Issues Highway 158 Update
A letter from the Texas Department of Transportation to County Judge Wilburn Bednar dated Aug. 20 provides an update on its plan to expand State Highway 158 to a four-lane divided highway. Construction on the first project in Sterling County is slated to begin in fiscal 2009 with the letting date tentatively set for Sept. 2008 at an anticipated cost of $19 million. From there, the work will proceed west, and TXDOT is pursuing right of way and utility adjustments along the corridor.
However, the TXDOT letter states, “… although there is currently a funding commitment to this and all Phase 1 Texas Trunk System corridors, there is real concern that the increasing pressure on our funding mechanisms will cause further delays in the construction of these projects.”
TXDOT’s current estimate of costs to expand the entire 51 miles of SH 158 in Glasscock and Sterling counties is in excess of $100 million. Their letter warns, “Escalating construction costs, the resulting erosion of our traditional tax-based revenue, explosive population growth and uncertainty about the next federal highway bill all conspire to create an uncertain future for all Texas transportation initiatives.”