Texas’ roads, levees, wastewater lines and other infrastructure need billions of dollars of improvements to handle the state’s growing population, a civil engineering group warned.
The Texas section of the American Society of Civil Engineers on Wednesday released a report card on Texas infrastructure. Overall, the state’s physical structures received a grade of C, and several categories showed improvement from the group’s 2017 report card.
But a few areas were slapped with near-failing grades. The state’s highways, roads and dams received grades of D-plus, with engineering experts saying $15 billion needs to be invested in road projects alone.
Texas’ levees and wastewater facilities received grades of D. About 100 miles of the state’s 567 miles of levees are at risk of failure, which endangers $127 billion worth of property, according to the report.
The Biden administration is working on a $2 trillion infrastructure improvement plan that could include $50 billion for highways. The engineers’ group urged Texas legislators to push hard to ensure the state receives its share of the funding.
“Now is the time to expand, and not cut, funding for infrastructure,” Sean Merrell, ASCE Texas section president, said in a news conference at which the report card was unveiled. “Now is the time to secure funding through a variety of methods.”
Merrell noted that state and federal motor fuels taxes, which are the most common way that roads and bridges are funded, have not been raised in about three decades. Those taxes — which are paid by motorists at the gas pumps — also are not indexed for inflation, which means their buying power generally declines as the cost of construction goes up.
Members of the engineering group also noted that Texas leaders aren’t taking steps to ensure the state’s infrastructure keeps up with population growth. The state’s population is estimated to be more than 29 million people, nearly double what it was in 1990.
“Too often,” Merrell said of the state’s infrastructure, “we take it for granted it’s simply expected to work.”
Wastewater and levees are among the areas that need the quickest attention, those who worked on the report card said. The number of sanitary sewer overflows has more than doubled during the past four years, and the state’s wastewater networks — which are typically controlled by local governments — face a funding shortfall of more than $200 million.
Texas’ flood risk mitigation received a grade of C-minus, up from a D received four years ago, after new funding sources were found following Hurricane Harvey in 2017.
Every dollar invested in infrastructure generates $3.70 in economic activity, said Mark Boyd, who chaired the group’s report card committee.
“Neglecting this will leave us mired in 20th century infrastructure,” Boyd said.
Among the highlights of the Texas report card was the energy industry, whose infrastructure received the highest grade of all categories with a B-plus. Texas’ oil production increased to 5.4 million barrels a day in 2019, up from 1 million barrels per day in 2011, and the state is also a leader in wind power generation, the report says.
Other infrastructure that received high marks included aviation, bridge maintenance and transit.
A national infrastructure report card will be unveiled March 3, officials said.