Texas

The US state of Texas voted in support of an amendment to the state laws called Proposition 1, which will divert a part of their oil and gas tax revenues towards the state highway fund for the development and improvement of roads.

The amendment is likely to provide Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) with an additional $1.7bn a year in funding.

TxDOT claims that the additional funds will be used for repairing roads affected by activity in the energy sector, maintenance of state’s road system and address congestion.

However, it said that the fund will not be used for the improvement of toll roads.

"This is a good first step toward finding sustainable funding to meet Texas’ transportation needs."

The state legislature is working on to determine the amount that will be made available to TxDOT, which is already working with officials and organisations to allocate the funds.

TxDOT executive director Joe Weber said: The approval of Proposition 1 is great news for Texas.

"This is a good first step toward finding sustainable funding to meet Texas’ transportation needs. The overwhelming support for this measure is a strong statement from the citizens of Texas that transportation is an essential priority.

"We look forward to working with the legislature to finalise the process and get the necessary resources out to the areas of the state most in need."

Image: I-10 and I-45 interchange in Houston. Photo: courtesy of Wikipedia.