Although the Texas Department of Transportation funds construction for highways and other major roads in the state right of way, metropolitan planning organizations prioritize project construction.

Texas has 25 MPOs that create transportation policy, forecast mobility needs, administer regional transportation planning, and approve state and federal funding for local and regional projects.

MPOs identify need-based projects by scoring them on safety, mobility, environmental quality, economic development, and asset management and operations. Then the MPO determines the funding and shovel-readiness of a project. If no funding is available and the project is not ready with right of way or environmental clearance, then it is shelved.

Once a project is approved by the MPO, it is added to the four-year Statewide Transportation Improvement Program or TxDOT’s 10-year Unified Transportation Program.