TxDot forms alliance to attract road workers

The State of Texas is planning to spend tens of millions of dollars in Young County and surrounding counties on highway construction projects in coming years, and the state transportation department is looking for workers to make them happen, the Texas Department of Transportation [TxDOT] said in a statement.

TxDOT said it is teaming up with the Texas Asphalt Pavement Association, and the Associated General Contractors of Texas in a joint workforce development partnership called “I Built This.”

The initiative seeks to educate Texans about the abundance of available opportunities in the heavy highway construction industry and connect job seekers with companies through digital advertising and community events, the agency said.

“Our mission is Connecting You With Texas,” said Jessica Butler, Tx-DOT’s director of Engineering and Safety Operations. “The best way to do that is to make sure available construction positions are filled so that projects are completed safely and on time.”

The state’s Connecting Texas 2050 plan has a number of road construction projects in store for Young County for the coming 10-plus years, according to the Texas Department of Transportation’s Project Tracker website.

Construction is underway or begins soon on State Highways 114 East, 210 West, and 79 West, the Tx-DOT map shows. The Zach Burkett Co. is now adding lanes to Highway 114 East from State Highway 79 and Main Street to 0.8 miles west of Farm-to-Market Road 1769 at a cost of $10 million, the website showed.

On Farm-to-Market Road 1769 and 3329, and State Highway 251 south of Olney, resurfacing and resealing projects begin within four years, the Project Tracker showed. The highway department also plans to resurface State Highway 114 west of Olney, and Texas Loop 132 between Main Street and State Highway 79 South, starting in 5 to 10 years, the website showed.

TxDOT will resurface State Highway 114 between Avenue C and FM 2178 North at an estimated cost of $2 million, the website showed.

The state of Texas is looking to spend more than $207 million on road construction in the coming 10-plus years, and will update its plan every four years, Tx-Dot said.

The long-term nature of these projects ensures that “career opportunities available in the Texas heavy highway construction industry are plentiful,” the task force said.

“The highway heavy construction industry is one of the best-kept secrets in the state of Texas, and the ‘I Built This’ industry partnership seeks to raise awareness of the abundance of rewarding careers awaiting job seekers in our industry,” said Nathali Parker, a member of AGC of Texas and TXAPA and a driving force behind the industry partnership. “As an industry, we believe in creating a better, safer, more connected Texas. One of the best ways we can do this is by providing empowering careers to Texans.”

To learn more about the “I Built This” initiative, watch the promotional video and take the interactive quiz at www. webuildtexasroads.com.