Harris County abandons maintenance plan, chooses new roads

$40 million for road jobs

Jay Blazek Crossley, Dec 21, 09.

Harris County Infrastructure Department Executive Director Art Storey has withdrawn a proposal to use $40 million in toll revenues to repair roads, according to the Houston Chronicle.

Although Storey would not explain why he withdrew the proposal, Harris County Commissioner Steve Radack claims that it was in response to his request, because he believes that new road construction creates jobs.

The Chronicle published a summary of both sides of the argument:

To Radack, the down economy argues for spending more, not less, on new construction. Injecting money into construction creates jobs. In addition, in the current economic climate the county can get deals from road builders and other contractors who need the work, saving the county lots of money in the long run, Radack said.

Storey said the down economy supports diverting the money to maintenance. First, he proposed it because with development slowing, there is not as much need for new roads. And with the county budget likely to take a hit as tax collections stagnate, the county could use the money to keep up what it has before building more.

A series of recent reports and articles have argued that investments in road maintenance create more jobs per dollar of spending than investments in new roads, while investments in transit create more jobs than either type of road spending. Texas, including the Houston region, prioritized investing its stimulus funds in new roads as opposed to road maintenance or transit, according to a Smart Growth America report. Many assume that Congress will pass an additional stimulus bill focused on creating jobs through additional investments in transportation infrastructure soon.

Best Stimulus for the Money (pdf) 2009 University of Utah / Smart Growth America report
Smart Transportation Economic Stimulation (pdf) 2009 Victoria Transport Policy Institute report
Transportation and Jobs Factsheet Surface Transportation Policy Project fact sheet