Opinion

Roads are not just a county issue; they are a Midland issue

Stephen Robertson, candidate for county judge, speaks during an event hosted by The Liberty Project of Texas for Republicans running in local, state and national elections Feb. 3, 2018. James Durbin/Reporter-Telegram less Stephen Robertson, candidate for county judge, speaks during an event hosted by The Liberty Project of Texas for Republicans running in local, state and national elections Feb. 3, 2018. James ... more Photo: James Durbin Buy photo Photo: James Durbin Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Roads are not just a county issue; they are a Midland issue 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

How should the county work with other entities to address transportation in the growing community?

In Midland County, there are roads maintained by the city of Midland, roads maintained by the Midland County, roads maintained by the state of Texas, and there are other non-public roads that are privately maintained. Often times when a road needs to be repaired, a resident of the county might not know which government entity has the responsibility. This, however, shouldn’t keep the public from having properly maintained roads that safely get them from point A to point B. While future planning for growth is imperative, maintenance and improvement of the road infrastructure we currently have is also a high priority.

Midland County was one of the first counties in the state of Texas to pave all of the county owned roads with 60 foot rights-of-way as of March 2013, which is important because that’s the space that emergency response vehicles need to be able to pull a u-turn. This was all accomplished by utilizing county reserves. We need to keep our road infrastructure maintained not only for the travel of our residents and visitors in their daily lives, but also to facilitate expedited travel in times of emergency.

While the county has done a good job of improving and maintaining the road infrastructure it is responsible for in comparison to other counties around the state, there is always more work to be done. The county needs to work closely with city of Midland planners and Texas Department of Transportation officials to update short- and long-term planning goals when it comes to responsibly improving and maintaining all roads in Midland County. To accomplish the ultimate goal, we should make greater use of current traffic studies, whether from regional sources, or paid for by individual counties. This would provide more current information to help us update our priorities as traffic patterns change.

We need to continue to fight jointly with other local entities for additional resources from the state while best utilizing the resources we have to improve all roads within the borders of Midland County. Relationships with TxDOT officials in the Odessa District office as well as in Austin, along with relationships with state representatives and senators not just in our region but throughout the state, are vital ingredients to successfully getting proper state funding for our local roads. The long and short of it is that roads are not just a county issue, or a city issue, or a state issue, they are a Midland issue. It will take Midlanders communicating and working together to achieve road quality and safety.