Roads & Rural Infrastructure

Some roads get attention because they carry thousands of cars a day. Others get ignored because they run through a small town, a rural community, or the neighborhood that never seems to make it to the top of the list.

R3 is for those roads.

The Rural Road Revitalization Plan would help repair existing neighborhood streets and local roads in small towns, rural communities, unincorporated areas, and historically underserved neighborhoods where residents have lived with potholes, deteriorating pavement, and temporary patches for years.

Repair. Reinforce. Reconnect.

Repair the Roads That Keep Getting Overlooked

R3 would focus on existing publicly maintained neighborhood streets and local roads that have been repeatedly neglected or overlooked for substantial repair.

The purpose is to help regular residents who live with deteriorating pavement and recurring potholes because their street is not a highway, a major commercial corridor, or the most visible road in town.

Prioritize Need, Not Visibility

Funding should follow documented need rather than political influence or how much traffic a road carries.

• Poor pavement condition and repeated temporary repairs.

• How long the street or road has gone without substantial investment.

• Repeated resident complaints or repair requests that have not produced meaningful action.

• Household income and local tax capacity.

• A documented history of underinvestment in the surrounding neighborhood or community.

• The local government's financial ability to complete the repair without raising taxes or taking on unaffordable debt.

Residents should have a way to nominate neglected streets and roads for consideration, and applicants should explain how projects were selected so the same visible roads do not automatically receive attention every year.

Durable Repairs, Not Another Patch

R3 should pay for the work necessary to repair the road itself and make that repair last, including resurfacing or reconstruction, failed road-base stabilization, and drainage work directly necessary to protect the repaired roadway.

Temporary patches should not substitute for reconstruction when the roadbed has failed.

A Dedicated State Funding Stream

R3 would create a dedicated state funding stream administered through the Texas Department of Transportation specifically for eligible neglected local roads and neighborhood streets.

State funding would be the foundation of the program. When eligible federal transportation dollars are available and a project qualifies, Texas should use those funds as well. R3 would not depend on one federal program continuing from year to year.

Help Communities With Limited Resources Compete

Small towns and rural communities should not lose access to road-repair funding simply because they have a smaller tax base or less grant-writing capacity.

Local matching requirements should reflect financial capacity and may be reduced or waived when a required match would force a property-tax increase, unaffordable debt, or cuts to essential local services. Technical assistance should be available so a community is not excluded because it lacks a large planning or grant-writing staff.

Make Every Dollar Traceable

R3 should include competitive procurement, appropriate audits, public reporting of funded projects and expenditures, and a public way to track which streets received funding, why they qualified, how much was awarded, and whether the work was completed.

What R3 Is Not

R3 is not a highway program. It is not intended for bridges, major high-traffic corridors, industrial routes, or roads built primarily to serve new development. Those projects have other funding and policy mechanisms.

Developer-caused road damage is also not part of R3. Requirements for major developments to pay the costs they create belong under Responsible Growth, Water, and Data Center Accountability.

Bottom line: Repair neglected neighborhood streets and local roads. Put documented need ahead of visibility. Fund durable repairs instead of endless patchwork. Help small and underserved communities compete. Build R3 on a dedicated state funding stream through TxDOT, with eligible federal dollars used when available.