February 2025 Vol 23 Issue 2

February 2025 Volume 23 Issue 2

We are a voice for our small town, grassroots members who may otherwise not have access to the right audiences, as well as a conduit for industry to come together in support and promotion of transportation improvements.

We are committed to working as an Alliance to improve transportation infrastructure and business networks opportunities, by advocating for appropriate funding levels, so business and industry can thrive.

We are focused on the economic and business interests that are the lifeblood of the region.

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As you may have noticed, the monthly Ports-to-Plains Newsletter is sent through our member database. Please be sure the email address pal@memberclicks-mail.net is allowed on your system.

PRESIDENT'S CORNER

Last month I started the article with the 2026 expiration of The Federal Transportation Bill known as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). As debates continue on Capitol Hill over the merits and shortfalls of the existing program, I want to start the conversation about the evolution of our national transportation system and the role that future interstates could play in that solution. Yes, formula distribution of funding back to each state DOT’s is the most efficient way to utilize federal funding and of course has most of the state’s support. But history has shown that some national transportation programs managed at a federal level are needed to ensure that gaps in our transportation network are not created at state boundaries due to disproportionate funding level commitments.

I shared some of that history with you starting with the constitutional power to establish post offices and post roads. That power coupled with the need to regulate trade and commerce between states drove the development of our national transportation network that is in place today. All through the 1800’s, highways, rail, and navigable waterways evolved to meet the demands of commerce, trade, and expansion while at the same time fulfilling the federal mission of delivering the mail. By the time we reached the end of the nineteenth century, we had a pretty good picture of our national transportation system with a spider web network of highways and rail lines east of the Mississippi River, and a less dense network of east-west routes made up of rail and overland mail routes that originated from places like St. Louis and Chicago and connected to the west coast.

As we moved into the twentieth century, transportation continued to evolve. The more mature network on the east coast along with the higher densities of population allowed for public transportation take hold in both metropolitan and regional settings. Outside of the urban centers and the transcontinental railroad, public transportation did not flourish out west. However, with the invention and mass distribution of the automobile, the influence upon our national highway network was about to change. Before the automobile made its mark on our system, interest groups such as bicycle clubs first spoke up advocating for better roads. Eventually they were successful in recruiting other interested parties to their voice such as the American farmer with the slogan “Get the farmer out of the mud.” These were the beginnings of the good road associations, and they continued to put pressure on the government for a better transportation system.

These efforts paid off with the signing of the Federal Aid Road Act of 1916, also known as the Bankhead-Shackleford Act and the Good Roads Act. This was the first federal highway funding legislation in the US and paved that way for the establishment of Departments of Transportation in every state. This act coupled with the Commerce Clause out of a 1907 Supreme Court case, which authorized Congress to construct interstate highways, created the framework that move our transportation network forward. This national transportation network was further boosted by the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1921 which defined the road program by developing an immense national highway system. From the 1920’s to the 1950’s that federal system continued to take shape. Finally with the passing of the Federal Highway Act of 1956, also known as the National Interstate and Defense Highways Act, signed by Dwight Eisenhower, our interstate system was about to change to what you see today.

I know last month I said I would talk about the role that advocacy including our Ports-to-Plains work has had in helping with the evolution and shaping of our transportation network, but I have run out of time and room. So, I will make this a three-part newsletter. Come back next month and find out more about our advocacy efforts and how that history will also help drive our future evolution of our transportation system.

more to come …

Lauren D. Garduño

State Senate Approves NDDOT Budget including Funds for Hwy 85

Members of the ND Senate Appropriations Committee voted unanimously on February 21, 2025 to approve SB 2012, the biennial budget of the ND Department of Transportation, which includes a $100 million line item to pay for four-laning a six-mile section of Highway 85 south of the Long X Bridge. The bill was then approved unanimously in the full ND Senate on February 24, 2025. The bill also directs NDDOT to prepare an environmental impact statement for the portion of Highway 85 from I-94 to the South Dakota border, and a section of Highway 2 between Williston and the Montana state line. The bill will now move to consideration by the ND House of Representatives.

Funding would be for RP 120 to Long X Bridge

U.S. 85 Breaks

The state previously received a $55 million federal grant to four-lane about 13 miles of the highway from a point six miles south of the Long X Bridge to the junction with Highway 200 (Jct. ND 200 to RP120). However, the stretch immediately south of the bridge does not qualify for federal funding. Construction in the rough terrain of the Little Missouri breaks is expensive, so does not meet the cost-benefit criteria in the federal grant process.

Williston Senator Brad Bekkedahl, who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, said the state needs to fund construction of the road through the breaks. If not, he said the highway would be left with a six-mile section of two-lane road, between sections of four-lane highway.

I-27 Signage Ceremony

You are cordially invited to attend a special I-27 Signage Ceremony hosted by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) and the Ports-to-Plains Alliance to commemorate the addition of 4.2 miles to the existing I-27 south of Lubbock. The ceremony will be immediately followed by a reception.

Event Details:

Date: Monday, April 14, 2025
Time: 1:30 PM CDT
Location: Northeast Corner of FM 1585 (the New I-27), Lubbock, TX (See maps below)(https://maps.app.goo.gl/QkwXXWS2y8UU7hzw6)
Reception: English Newsom Cellars, 408 East Woodrow Rd • Lubbock, Texas 79423. (Map) https://maps.app.goo.gl/3DfoKQ6a2JTadwK76
Please RSVP with Tina Scarborough, Business Manager, tina.scarborough@portstoplains.com – 806-777-4162

Upcoming Meetings

I-27 Advisory Board Meeting

This is a Save the Date for the next I-27 Advisory Committee Meeting scheduled for Thursday, April 10, 2025 from 1:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. CDT in Austin, Texas. This meeting will be held at the Etter-Harbin Alumni Center (Legends Room), 2110 San Jacinto Blvd., Austin, TX 78712.

2025 Ports-to-Plains Alliance Conference

Save the Date: September 30-October 2, 2025, Lubbock, Texas

Transportation Advocates of Texas

Lauren Garduno, President/CEO, Ports-to-Plains Alliance joined the Alliance for I-69 Texas in hosting the Transportation Advocates of Texas (TAoT) #Transportation101 luncheon and reception for staff and members of the legislature at Hance Scarborough LLP Offices in Austin, TX. Speakers addressed the importance of robust state transportation investment and legislative priorities for this session.