Filling the Potholes on the Road to Progress
By Paul Wiseman, March 9, 2020
Since the advent of the frac era, the idea of taking a leisurely drive in the country anywhere in the Permian Basin has dwindled to a speck in the rear view mirror. Some roads, particularly U.S. 285 between Pecos and Carlsbad, S.H. 302 through Winkler County, and I-20 pretty much anywhere along the Odessa-Midland corridor, are among the most dangerous in Texas. In the case of 285, they are among the most dangerous in the United States.
A cadre of agencies, state and nonprofit, are working to make those roads safer. The first step in that direction is making a plan. The second is getting the hundreds of millions of dollars to fund the laying of concrete and asphalt to expand the roads and make them safer. One department in particular is the focus of many of these efforts.