UTILITY CORRIDOR STRUCTURES AND OTHER UTILITY ACCOMMODATION ALTERNATIVES IN TXDOT RIGHT OF WAY

With the deregulation of the utility industry and the consequential increase in the number of public utilities vying for space within the state's right of way, this finite resource has reached an ultimate condition. The resulting congested right of way dramatically increases associated liability and costs attributable to engineering, construction and maintenance of these facilities. Whether paid by the utility entity directly or by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) under the state's Utility Accommodation Policy, these costs are inevitably borne by the utility rate- and tax-paying citizens of our state. A potential solution to the congestion and liability problems is the use of utility corridors along the right of way. Thus, a need existed to evaluate the questions associated with utility corridors including legal, revenue-generating potential, design, construction, and maintenance issues. The objective of this research was to determine the feasibility of creating utility corridors within TxDOT right of way (ROW). The work presented in this report includes basic guidelines for choosing an accommodation strategy; sample specifications and drawings; sample legislation and changes to the Utility Accommodation Policy, focusing on giving TxDOT the legislative authority to pursue the use of utility corridors and ROW acquisition for same, when warranted; and draft occupancy agreements for utility corridor structures, along with draft specifications and standards for utility corridor structures. These are all significant advances for the purpose of accommodating utilities within the ROW for TxDOT.