STATE APPROVES $50 MILLION IN FUNDING FOR HIGHWAY 290 CLOVERLEAF PROJECT

  

Millions of dollars for improvements at the Highway 290 cloverleaf in Brenham have officially been set aside by TxDOT.

Thursday, the Texas Transportation Commission approved TxDOT’s ten-year transportation plan, called the 2020 Unified Transportation Program (UTP).

The plan includes more than $77 billion dedicated to improving safety, addressing congestion and connectivity, and preserving roadways for Texas drivers. Part of that $77 billion is $50 million in construction funding allocated towards the cloverleaf interchange project, which is intended to improve the intersection of Highway 290 and Highway 36.

TxDOT says the projects in the plan will be delivered with funding from legislative and voter-approved initiatives that allocate portions of oil and gas taxes, sales taxes, and other money to the state highway fund. Transportation Commission Chairman J. Bruce Bugg, Jr. says this ten-year plan is the agency’s largest to date, which he says is evidence that TxDOT is “committed to reducing congestion and improving mobility and safety in Texas”.

Brenham City Councilmembers and Washington County Commissioners met in March with TxDOT representatives to discuss changes to the cloverleaf. Officials showcased and discussed concepts for changes to the cloverleaf project, designed to improve safety, reduce congestion, maintain connectivity, and provide statewide and local mobility.

At that meeting, city and county officials seemed to prefer the second option presented: a southern direct connection, which would create a connector south of the current cloverleaf with continuous flow for Highway 290.

The project is currently set in the UTP as a long-term project, expected to take at least five years to develop and complete. At the meeting in March, TxDOT representatives told local officials that construction was tentatively set to begin in 2025.

To learn more about the project, click here.