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State of Texas ITS Architectures and Deployment Plans: Brazos Valley Region. Executive Summary

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) issued a final rule to implement Section 5206(e) of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) in January of 2001. This final rule requires that Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) projects funded through the Highway Trust Fund conform to the National ITS Architecture and applicable standards. FHWA has further established a deadline of April 2005 for regions to have an ITS architecture in place. To meet these requirements and ensure future federal funding eligibility for ITS, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) initiated the development of regional ITS architectures and deployment plans throughout the State of Texas. There are several metropolitan areas in the state that already have ITS architectures in place or under development. The focus of the State of Texas Regional ITS Architectures and Deployment Plans program is to develop architectures in those areas outside of the Austin, Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth, and San Antonio Regions. TxDOT expanded upon the ITS architecture requirements outlined in the FHWA Final Rule, and included an ITS deployment plan as part of the Regional efforts. The regional ITS architecture provides a framework for ITS systems, services, integration, and interoperability, and the regional ITS deployment plan identifies specific projects and timeframes for ITS implementation to support the vision developed by stakeholders in the architecture. This is the executive summary for the Brazos Valley Region ITS Architecture and Deployment Plan. The Brazos Valley Region is located in central Texas, and is bordered by the TxDOT Waco and Dallas Districts to the north, the TxDOT Austin District to the west, the TxDOT Tyler and Lufkin Districts to the east, and the TxDOT Yoakum and Houston Districts to the south. For the Brazos Valley Regional ITS Architecture and Deployment Plan, the study area included all ten counties that comprise the TxDOT Bryan District. The Brazos Valley Region has an extensive transportation infrastructure. The primary roadway facilities include I-45, US-77, US-79, US-190, US-290, SH-6, and SH-105. I-45 is a north-south, divided interstate highway. The effective operation of this highway is critical to the movement of goods and people through the State of Texas. I-45 extends from Galveston on the Texas Gulf Coast to Dallas. Blockages along I-45 can have serious implications for drive-time for commercial vehicles and motorists alike due to the lack of obvious alternate routes. Knowing the road and travel conditions within this transportation corridor and having the ability to disseminate this information to motorists are important elements for this project. For example, if I-45 has been closed due to a major incident or weather, and motorists are informed of the closure in advance, they can alter their travel plans with an alternate route or wait to begin their travels. In addition to roadway infrastructure, the Easterwood Airport serves as the commercial airport for the Brazos Valley Region.

  • Record URL:
  • Corporate Authors:

    Kimley-Horn and Associates, Incorporated

    12700 Park Central Drive, Suite 1800
    Dallas, TX  United States  75251

    Texas Department of Transportation

    Greer Highway Building, 125 East 11th Street
    Austin, TX  United States  78701-2483
  • Publication Date: 2004-4-30

Language

  • English

Media Info

  • Media Type: Web
  • Edition: Executive Summary
  • Features: Figures; Tables;
  • Pagination: 26p

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 01016495
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Files: NTL, TRIS, STATEDOT
  • Created Date: Jan 31 2006 10:18AM