Four Year Transportation Improvement Plan Starting Soon in Midland/Odessa

With traffic becoming a problem in the Midland/Odessa area, now there is a four-year improvement plan set to begin in 2023.

According to NewsWest 9, the Metropolitan Planning Organization Policy Board just approved a four-year transportation improvement plan to begin in early 2023 and run till the end of 2026.

“I would say these plans have been in the works for at least six years,” said Cameron Walker, Executive Director of Metropolitan Planning Organization.

The majority of the plan is for I-20 and the funding for it is $287 million.

"The majority of that is going on I-20 because I-20 is becoming a 6-lane corridor. Currently, it’s four with two-way frontage roads. We are getting rid of the frontage roads and turning them into one-way frontage roads and we’re putting in new interchanges and Texas U-turns and widening the whole road by another lane in each direction. That will be very impactful for getting freight and people through the Midland-Odessa area," said Walker.

Also on the list is State Highway 158 which will get improved intersections and a new interchange on south Loop 338 in Odessa.

"We’re particularly interested in safety and second-most on our top list is congestion. We’re doing our best to mitigate congestion and prevent the places where you’re sitting for five traffic signals," Walker said.

A six-lane interstate is what we have been needing since the beginning of this latest oil boom that started about 10 years ago, with all the oilfield traffic this would make it easier to get through Midland/Odessa on the interstate.