The Texas Department of Transportation (TXDOT) is seeking input from Mason’s County Commissioners and the public on what highway projects are needed in the county. TXDOT representative Michelle Conkle gave a presentation on the 2027 -2030 Rural Transportation Improvement Program (TIPS) to Mason’s County Commissioners at their regular meeting Monday morning. Three projects are currently planned for Mason County, beginning in 2029 and 2031. Other nearby counties have significantly DOT presentation literature.
TXDOT is asking for the public to submit their comments on highway needs by April 24. They may be emailed to [email protected], with the subject line Attention: Rural TIP. Comments may also be mailed to: Texas Department of Transportation Austin District, Attn: Rural TIP 7901 N Interstate 35 Austin, TX 78753 Currently scheduled Mason County TXDOT projects are for installing cable median barriers on Highway 87 and “in various locations in Mason County.” The first is described as “.33 miles West of Art Hedwigs Hill Road to .362 miles South of RM 152.” The location of the second project was not identified. Ms. Conkle described the cable barriers as “posts that stick up out of the ground with steel cables running between them, placed between two lanes of traffic.” Each of these projects has a $1,300,000 budget and are scheduled to begin in 2029. In 2031, a third project to do a one-inch asphalt overlay on Highway 87 is scheduled. The budget for the overlay is $376,450.
Commissioners strongly recommended that TXDOT look at the Highway 386 and Highway 71 intersection, as well as Highway 29 and Highway 87 in the county. Both highways have seen a major increase in traffic and neither have shoulders or sufficient passing lanes, they said.
