September 2025 Vol 23 Issue 9

September 2025 Volume 23 Issue 9

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.

Be Sure Newsletter Email is Allowed

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.

Ports-to-Plains Alliance President/CEO Lauren Garduño Named 2025 Engineer of the Year by Houston Hispanic Architects and Engineers

The Ports-to-Plains Alliance proudly congratulates Lauren Garduño, President & CEO, for being recognized as the 2025 Engineer of the Year by Houston Hispanic Architects and Engineers, Inc. (HHAE).

This prestigious honor celebrates Garduño’s decades of leadership and innovation in advancing transportation infrastructure across Texas and beyond.

“Lauren’s impact is even greater than Texas,” said John Osborne Chair, Ports-to-Plains Alliance. “His vision for building stronger, safer, and more connected communities continues to transform how we think about transportation and economic growth.”

A Career of Service and Leadership

With more than 35 years of distinguished service at the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), Garduño has been at the forefront of statewide transportation development. His career highlights include:

Managing operations in Odessa and Abilene and serving in executive leadership roles in Austin.
Leading the reorganization of five TxDOT divisions, including new units for Fleet Management and Professional Engineering Procurement.
Overseeing project planning during significant expansions of the Unified Transportation Program (UTP).

Since 2022, Garduño has guided the Ports-to-Plains Alliance, championing the future of Interstate 27 and advancing regional economic development through strategic transportation planning.

A Proud Texas Engineer

Garduño is a proud graduate of Texas Tech University, holding a degree in Civil Engineering, along with advanced degrees in Management and Civil Engineering. Beyond his professional accomplishments, he and his wife operate a Charolais cattle ranch in Happy Valley, Texas.

Celebrating a Legacy of Impact

The Houston Hispanic Architects and Engineers’ recognition affirms Garduño’s transformative contributions to the profession and to communities across the state and nation.

Congratulations, Lauren, on this well-deserved honor!

⭐ Engineer of the Year ⭐

Your leadership and service continue to move Texas — and the nation — forward.

PRESIDENT'S CORNER

There is a memorable quote in the movie “Jerry Maguire” where the sports agent, Maguire, played by Tom Cruise is trying to keep his one client, a professional football player, Tidwell, played by Cuba Gooding Jr. Tidwell has Maguire on the phone screaming “Show me the Money!!”, as Maguire finds himself in a desperate situation trying to keep his company solvent.

As we engage on this path to build a future interstate highway, one of the recurring questions is similar, where will we get the money? When the Interstate Highway Act was signed by Eisenhower in 1956, the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) was created to fund this massive infrastructure program. This was a dedicated source of funds generated from automobile and truck fuel taxes and separate from the general revenue collected by other taxing instruments. Prior to 1956, highways were funded from the General Fund of the Treasury. The HTF was created as a user-supported fund with three sources of income: federal fuel taxes, other federal taxes on truck users, and interest on invested balances. The original federal tax collected was 3 cents per gallon, and by 1993 that number had climbed to 18.4 cents per gallon. There has not been an increase since 1993. I believe in part to the fact that the HTF was created to help fund the interstate expansion and when the Eisenhower Interstate was completed in 1992, the political will to increase this tax waned due to no future vision for what lay beyond the interstates. In fact, there has been no success in even indexing this tax for inflation.

What happened with the HTF in the 90’s was first the fragmentation of the account to pay for highways and mass transit infrastructure. Also, transportation professionals realized that some of these funds needed to be moved to interstate maintenance and other programs that were created in the 90’s with the passing of the surface transportation bills ISTEA and TEA-21, and later in 2005 SAFETEA-LU. The country had moved away from interstate building to interstate maintenance. Another phenomenon that occurred during this period was the HTF becoming in jeopardy of becoming insolvent. When you don’t increase the fuel tax even for inflation, then that is the only outcome to be expected. Beginning in 2008, and every year since, Congress has had to transfer amounts from other sources, mainly the General Fund into the HTF in order to complete distributions into the various infrastructure programs.

To compensate for these funding shortfalls, states have had to rely on other funding resources in an attempt to stay up with the infrastructure needs pressing upon us today. From 2005 to 2015, debt borrowing and private equity paid back with toll revenue generators became more common in state DOT programs. But even these have their limitations since it takes funding sources to generate more funds. Finaly, states have turned to other revenue sources like in Texas, New Mexico, and North Dakota where oil and gas tax revenues are being dedicated to state infrastructure development. Texas and North Dakota have taken advantage of this revenue with New Mexico not far behind.
So, here we are in 2025, pursuing a national effort to resurrect an interstate construction program and I know the question that everyone is going to ask is “Where is the money?” The first part of my answer is a question back to everyone, if someone came to you and told you that for every dollar you invested in this program, it would pay you back 2.5 dollars in return, would you make that investment? We need to have a serious conversation about that fuel tax, which is a user fee, and not be afraid to raise that fund to a reasonable level that will support future interstate construction.

I hope to see you this week at our annual conference in Lubbock, Texas. We have a great program lined up and a wonderful opportunity to network.

more to come …

Lauren D. Garduño

Last Chance 2025 Conference Registration

Just a few days until the 2025 Ports-to-Plains Conference which begins Tuesday, September 30, 2025.

Date: September 30 – October 2, 2025
Location: Overton Hotel & Conference Center, 2322 Mac Davis Lane, Lubbock, TX 79401
Theme: Interstate Advantage: Driving Trade across North America
Registration Costs: $125-Alliance Members; $150 Non-Members; Students $75; Significant Other $75 (Meals only)

Click Here to View/Download 2025 Conference Information

Click Here to Register

There are still a few Exhibit Spaces available at $200 (includes one comped registration)

New Opportunity

Please direct questions about the PDHs to Joe Kiely (719-740-2240).

CLICK HERE for more Information on Professional Development Hours.

Value of Future Interstate Highway: Scott Decker, Mayor, City of Dickinson, ND

Dickinson, ND is located about 20 miles east of U.S. 85 on the Theodore Roosevelt Expressway, but also is adjacent to Interstate 94. Mayor Decker describes the value of access to an Interstate Highway.

Click on the image above to view Video

Big Spring Breaks Ground on Crossroads Business Park: A Gateway to Economic Growth

On September 23, 2025 Big Spring marked a transformative milestone with the groundbreaking ceremony for the Crossroads Business Park, a $5.6 million infrastructure investment designed to expand the city’s role as a hub for business and trade in West Texas.

The new business park is located on Frazier Road off the east side of Highway 87, strategically positioned near the future intersection of Interstate 27, part of the Ports-to-Plains Corridor. This location places Big Spring at the crossroads of one of North America’s most important trade routes.

Here’s a conceptual site map illustration of the Crossroads Business Park:

Green box = Phase 1 development (~550 acres).
Dashed gray outline = Future expansion (~2,000 acres).
Black line = Highway 87 / future I-27 alignment.
Brown line = Frazier Road (access road).

The project is supported by a $3.2 million U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) grant, dedicated to water and wastewater infrastructure improvements. Once complete, the park will unlock more than 550 acres for immediate business development, with an additional 2,000 acres planned for future expansion.

“This project positions Big Spring as a vital hub for future business and industrial development along the Ports-to-Plains Corridor,” said Mayor Robert Moore. “With new infrastructure in place, we are laying the foundation for long-term prosperity in Howard County and beyond.”

Distinguished Guests

The groundbreaking ceremony brought together state, regional, and local leaders, including:

Drew Darby, District 72 State Representative
Randy Johnson, Howard County Judge
Robert Moore, Mayor of Big Spring
Mack Frazier, President, Cross Ell Ranch Corporation
Lauren Garduño, President, Ports-to-Plains Alliance
Bobbi Hansen, West Texas Regional Director for U.S. Senator Ted Cruz
Michael Dean, District Field Representative for U.S. Congressman Jodey Arrington
Chandra Eggemeyer, Office of the Governor for Economic Development and Tourism

Unlocking Big Spring’s Potential

The Crossroads Business Park represents the largest new business park initiative in Big Spring’s history. Supported by both private landowners and public partners, the development builds upon the city’s existing assets, including Interstate 20 access, regional rail, and McMahon-Wrinkle Airport/Industrial Park.

The project is expected to strengthen regional logistics, manufacturing, and energy service industries, providing shovel-ready sites that can attract both national and international employers. It also positions Big Spring to capture growth as I-27 advances north and south through Texas as a Future Interstate Highway.

Federal & Regional Collaboration

“This EDA investment helps ensure Big Spring and Howard County are ready to leverage one of the most significant transportation projects of our generation,” said Lauren Garduño, President of Ports-to-Plains Alliance. “The Crossroads Business Park is more than a local project—it is part of a larger vision to expand opportunity along the Ports-to-Plains Corridor from Mexico to Canada.”

Has Your Organization Considered these Resolutions? - Doing Something Big

The Ports-to-Plains Alliance has a unique opportunity to do Something Big for our corridor — strengthening the path to funding, construction, and economic growth for communities from Mexico to Canada.

You can download by CLICKING HERE and following the Links;

Three proposals are now before Congress that will:

Fund Development and Construction of Future Interstates
- Establish a Multi-State Future Interstate Highway Formula Program to accelerate planning, design, and construction along designated Future Interstate Corridors.
Gather the Data to Drive Decisions
- Launch a Future Interstate Feasibility Study to evaluate the economic, safety, and mobility benefits of extending Future Interstate 27 across the remaining Ports-to-Plains Corridor and all of the Heartland Expressway and Theodore Roosevelt Expressway.
Show Unified Support for Future Interstate and I-27 Route Numbering

I-27 Advisory Committee Meeting on September 4, 2025

Texas Senate Bill 1474, amended with House Bill 2775, requires the establishment of an Interstate 27 Advisory Committee. The purpose of the I-27 Advisory Committee is to provide TxDOT with information on concerns and interest along the Ports-to-Plains Corridor in Texas and to advise TxDOT on transportation improvements impacting the Corridor. On September 4, 2025, the Committee held its ninth meeting.

The agenda began with election of a New Chair and Vice Chair, and an Economic Professional Member from Segment No. 3 (South Texas). Former Chair Brenda Gunter, who served as the Mayor of San Angelo, was term limited, but had chaired the Committee since it’s inception in 2021. Thank you, Mayor Gunter, for your leadership. The Committee selected Curtis Parrish, who had served as Vice-Chair, as the new Chair. Curtis is the County Judge for Lubbock County. Mayor Lori Blong of the City of Midland was elected to the Vice Chair position. Finally, Jorge Ramon was selected as the Economic Development Professional from Segment. No. 3.

Lorena Echeverria de Misi, P.E., Corridor Planning Branch Manager, Transportation Planning and Programming Division, TxDOT provided an update on the I-27 Implementation Plan Summary of Progress and What’s Next for the I-27 Designation. An overview of TxDOT’s planning funding for the Texas Corridor showed that 28 percent of the estimated $31.2 billion or $8.8 billion over the next ten years. This includes projects in the 2026 Texas Transportation Plan (UTP) and those planning projects required to construct.