BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 5453

By: Craddick

Transportation

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

The bill author has informed the committee that, as the state's population continues to grow, the strain on Texas' transportation infrastructure increases and that ensuring that limited transportation funds are spent effectively and transparently is critical to meeting both current and future mobility needs. The bill author has also informed the committee that while the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) uses a unified transportation program to guide project planning and construction, clearer prioritization of projects that maintain infrastructure versus those that improve infrastructure is necessary. The bill author has further informed the committee that keeping legislators informed of key project milestones is essential for public transparency and local engagement. C.S.H.B. 5453 seeks to enhance accountability and efficiency in the transportation project selection and funding process by requiring TxDOT to prioritize projects that maintain or improve state infrastructure and to notify legislators of project selections and completions and by updating the criteria used in planning and prioritizing transportation projects to ensure a balanced approach to maintaining and improving the state's roadway system.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 5453 amends the Transportation Code to require the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), not later than the 10th day after the date a major road project is selected for funding, to provide notice of the project's selection to each member of the legislature who represents the county in which the project is located. The bill makes the following changes to the requirement under current law for TxDOT, not later than the 10th day before the date on which a major road project is scheduled for completion, to provide notice to each member of the legislature who represents the county in which the project is located and who wants to receive the notice:

· changes the type of notice to be provided from a notice of the location and completion date of the project to a notice of the project's completion; and

· removes the condition that the member wants to receive the notice.

The bill accordingly removes the requirement for TxDOT to ask each legislator whether the legislator wants to receive notices of completed projects.

C.S.H.B. 5453 requires the unified transportation program developed by TxDOT to identify and prioritize transportation projects that are required to maintain the state infrastructure or would improve the state infrastructure. The bill requires TxDOT, in selecting and prioritizing transportation projects, to develop a plan, conduct an environmental review, and propose a design for the following projects:

· the reconstruction of certain portions of Broadway Street in San Antonio, Hildebrand Avenue in San Antonio, State Highway 225, and Broadway Street between certain intersections in Harris County;

· the construction of certain portions of State Highway 32, certain bridges in Harris County, connectors between State Highway 225 and State Highway 8, a sound barrier along a certain portion of the eastern side of State Highway 146, and interchanges at certain intersections;

· the improvement and extension of certain portions of Cistercian Road and Stewart Road;

· the improvement of certain portions of Fishtrap Road, Rockhill Road and Arvin Hill Road, and Farm-to-Market Road 1660;

· the expansion of certain portions of State Highway 57; and

· the improvement and expansion of certain portions of State Highway 349.

The bill requires TxDOT to construct those projects and to ensure that a route in the state highway system, including Farm-to-Market Roads 1021 and 1472, between Eagle Pass and Laredo is sufficiently maintained.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2025.

COMPARISON OF INTRODUCED AND SUBSTITUTE

While C.S.H.B. 5453 may differ from the introduced in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following summarizes the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.

The substitute includes a provision absent from the introduced requiring TxDOT, in selecting and prioritizing transportation projects, to develop a plan, conduct an environmental review, and propose a design for certain specified transportation projects. The substitute requires TxDOT to construct those projects and to ensure that a route in the state highway system, including Farm-to-Market Roads 1021 and 1472, between Eagle Pass and Laredo is sufficiently maintained, whereas the introduced did not.

The substitute omits provisions of the introduced that required TxDOT to do the following:

· in selecting transportation projects for purposes relating to the statewide transportation plan, prioritize the transportation projects identified by the unified transportation program as projects that are required to maintain the state infrastructure or would improve the state infrastructure; and

· in establishing criteria to prioritize the transportation needs for the state that are consistent with the statewide transportation plan, ensure that transportation expenditures are split evenly between transportation projects that are required to maintain the state infrastructure and transportation projects that would improve the state infrastructure.