County to pursue $1.5 million USDOT planning grant to inventory culverts, crossings

Tom Green County commissioners authorized staff to submit a USDOT competitive grant application to inventory and plan resilient upgrades for county culverts and low-water crossings.

Staff (speaker 20) told the court that "we're asking for $1,500,000 to get to a very substantial project in size," describing the work as countywide cataloging and engineering to make projects shovel-ready for future construction grants. Commissioners said the grant would help move the county from reactive repairs after flood events to proactive resilience planning.

The application requires no local match and was presented as a way to consolidate needs from all four precincts into a single planning project that could unlock future funding for culverts and roadway resilience.