Gainesville and Cooke County were represented Monday at the Seventh Annual 26th Congressional District Transportation Summit hosted by Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) Commissioner William Meadows and U.S. Congressman Michael C. Burgess.

TxDOT Area Engineer Wayne Bell and Cooke County Commissioners Leon Klement and Gary Hollowell attended the summit where U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and other federal, state and local leaders addressed transportation issues and projects.

Burgess said of the summit, “North Texas is one of the fastest growing areas of the country, and with population growth comes the need for transportation growth and expansion.”

“During these tough economic times, it is important that the leaders and decision-makers from the federal, state and local levels work together,” Burgess continued “to address the diverse transportation and infrastructure issues our area faces.”

Bell said much of the summit addressed options to raise funds for transportation as some state, regions, counties and cities have little money in the coffers for projects.

The summit included presentations and panel discussion regarding the Federal Highway Reauthorization Bill, information regarding the stimulus funding and the impact it is and will have on state and regional projects.

During the summit LaHood addressed that gas tax saying, “Congress must debate whether to raise the gas tax for the first time since 1993.”

Bell said most of the projects discussed at the transportation summit were for the Dallas and Fort Worth area.

“They did not address anything in particular to Gainesville,” Bell said in a telephone interview this morning. However, he noted the several TxDOT projects taking place in Cooke County at this time.

Bell said TxDOT transportation projects include the continuing work on the California Street bridge in Gainesville as part of the Pecan Creek Project. The beams for the project are supposed to arrive about Dec. 9 and the bridge should be completed by February.

TxDOT will then go to work on the bridge at Broadway, which should be completed by early summer.

Bell said the FM 678 Overpass over Highway 82 project is to the point where TxDOT is about to meet with the utilities and property owners.

Work continues on Highway 2071 (Old Denton Highway) to safen and widen the highway.

Bell said they just finished up FM 3496 where they widened the road and put shoulders on it. They are also replacing the bridge at FM 51 and the bridge at FM 921 at Williams Creek.

TxDOT District Engineer Larry Tegtmeyer of the Wichita Falls District, which includes Cooke County, also attended the summit and told the Register this morning that transportation has been underfunded for years so they were discussing ways to increase funds for transportation during Monday’s meeting.

Tegtmeyer said the priorities of TxDOT is to alleviate congestion, maintain the transportation system and to improve some of the major corridors of the state.

He went on to say that Cooke County and the Wichita Falls district were one of 11 TxDOT districts that did not receive any Proposition 12 money. He said our region has very good pavement quality and very little congestion compared to much of the state. There are 25 districts in Texas.

During the Monday summit, featured speakers included Fort Worth Mayor Michael Moncrief, Denton County Transportation Authority (DCTA) Chairman Charles Emery, TxDOT Executive Director Amadeo Saenz, North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG) Transportation Director Michael Morris, North Texas Tollway Authority (NTTA) Chairman Paul Wageman and Regional Transportation Council (RTC) Chairman and Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley. Texas House Transportation Committee Chairman Joe Pickett also attended the summit.

The North Texas Transportation Summit took place at the Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth.

For more information regarding North Texas transportation issues go to www.dot.tx.us or http://burgess.house.gov.