How it works: How does TxDOT prioritize construction?

Although the Texas Department of Transportation funds construction for highways and other major thoroughfares in the state, TxDOT does not directly prioritize projects.

Rather, the agency allows local jurisdictions to identify their individual needs and prioritize accordingly.

Texas has 25 local authorities called metropolitan planning organizations, or MPOs, which are voluntary associations of local governments—including cities, special districts and counties—as well as community leaders that create transportation policy, forecast mobility needs, administer regional transportation planning, and channel state and federal funding for local and regional projects.

MPOs identify need-based projects by scoring them on a variety of factors, including safety, mobility, environmental quality, economic development, and asset management and operations.

Once a project is scored, the MPO determines the funding sources and shovel-readiness of a project; TxDOT has 12 funding categories for specific projects and activities.

If the need, funding and readiness of a project are aligned—which can take several years—and it is approved by the MPO, then projects are added to the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program, which is a four-year plan with dedicated funding, or TxDOT’s 10-year Unified Transportation Program.

Long-term projects may be added to an MPO’s 20- to 25-year plan.