Report: TxDOT out of control

McALLEN - The Texas Department of Transportation - responsible for most highways and roads that drivers travel each day - needs massive overhaul and greater oversight, according to a report set for release today.

"Many expressed concerns that TxDOT was ‘out of control,' advancing its own agenda against objections from both the Legislature and the public," read an advanced copy of the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission report, which The Monitor obtained Monday.

"Significant changes are needed... tweaking the status quo is simply not enough."

TxDOT, one of 27 state agencies undergoing the periodic Sunset review, has faced continued criticism over how it's handled its recent funding crisis, as well as a recent and controversial decision to halt new highway projects across Texas.

The Legislature created the Sunset commission in 1977 to identify and eliminate waste, duplication, and inefficiency in government agencies. In most cases, agencies under Sunset review are automatically abolished unless legislation is enacted to continue them.

TxDOT's impact on the Rio Grande Valley is particularly crucial now, as the area rapidly grows and relies on expanded highways and roads to prevent projected traffic congestion and gridlock. The Valley's hope for an interstate project also largely rides on state transportation policies.

The agency's endorsement of toll road projects, like the Trans-Texas Corridor, has drawn accusations that its administrators' intent is to turn highway construction over to the private sector.

"They were putting toll roads where no one wanted them," said Sunset commission member state Sen. Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa, D-McAllen, on Monday. "They don't communicate, and they've been pretty unresponsive to the Legislature."

TxDOT has attributed the bulk of its projected $3.6 billion revenue shortfall over the next seven years to cuts in federal transportation funding.

But agency leaders have also conceded they failed to forecast the drop in revenue in adequate time and failed to catch a $1.1 billion accounting error.

On Monday, TxDOT officials issued a statement addressing the Sunset report.

"The confidence of the Legislature and the public are very important to us. We still have work to do, but we are confident our ongoing efforts to improve the transparency and accessibility of TxDOT are making a positive impact," said agency spokesman Chris Lippincott.

TxDOT is scheduled to appear for a hearing before the Sunset commission July 15, and the agency's future is expected to be of considerable interest to the Legislature when it convenes in January.

The report, on which Sunset staff began work in September, calls a legislative oversight transportation committee to be created and for a transportation commissioner to replace the three-member Texas Transportation Commission. Those and other changes would be assessed in four years time, as opposed to the standard 12-year span between legislative reviews.

A spokeswoman for Gov. Rick Perry, who appoints the five-member transportation commission, said the changes presented in the report would not weaken the governor's role in TxDOT.

"The Legislature already has oversight through the budget process," said Allison Castle. "The governor has an extreme level of confidence in the commissioners."

Hinojosa and other senate Democrats have been critical of Perry's support of public-private partnerships for toll roads, like the one with Spanish infrastructure giant Cintra, despite considerable public objection to the projects.

"Perry is pushing so hard he just appoints commissioners who agree with him 100 percent," Hinojosa said. "It causes a lot of bad feelings."

Perry and others have argued toll roads are Texas' best option to keep up with the growing demand for new highways in light of what is expected to be an ongoing decrease in federal transportation funding.

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James Osborne covers McAllen and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4428.