North Texas congressman Colin Allred has a lot to say about growth in the region.
Allred sits on the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure committee, where he advocates for major projects like the proposed high speed rail connecting Dallas to Houston.
The Dallas-area Democratic representative is campaigning for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Republican Ted Cruz.
Allred spoke with KERA’s Pablo Arauz Peña about the opportunities — and challenges — that come with growth in North Texas.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
First, can you explain to our [audience] what you do as a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee?
You know, I wanted to be a part of the infrastructure and transportation committee because of our incredible growth here in North Texas, and the growth of our state as a whole. And because I thought that it would be an area where we could have some bipartisan agreement.
You've touted the bipartisan infrastructure law as a big win for Congress. So how are North Texans benefiting from the law today?
Well, we're already benefiting in so many ways. Particularly, DART has been a beneficiary already of the IIJA — the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act — with a whole new fleet of clean buses coming to DART that's going to help us better serve North Texans but also, we are already seeing projects that are receiving funding across our region and across the state.
What other priorities do you have for improving infrastructure in the region?
I think going forward, we're going to have to always be keeping an eye on our water systems, this is something that we're seeing across the country. That is some of the areas in Texas that are growing the fastest, are also coming with these incredible demands on our water infrastructure. And so I want to make sure that we keep investing in that and keep an eye on that, because one thing that we don't want to end up in a situation is where we don't have enough water to sustain this growth and we find ourselves really in in a limited situation.
So planning ahead, by the decades, is necessary in order to do that. We of course know about the issues we've had with our electric grid. Texas is on its own grid, as I'm sure many folks have kind of followed now start to understand but there's some grant money that is created in the infrastructure law that can be drawn down to help improve the reliability of our electrical grid. Probably the biggest individual project that I've been working on is the high-speed train between Dallas and Houston, which I think when it is pursued and completed, it will be one of the most exciting projects in the entire country.
Many North Texas residents want to see more progress on air quality and climate in general in regards to infrastructure. What other priorities do you have in Congress that can assure them that you're are taking action on the current climate crisis?
Well, I think it's such an important issue. And it's one that folks talk to me about all the time and we do have funding in this in the infrastructure bill, to try and improve the efficiency of the way we live from our appliances to also encouraging electric vehicles, all of these kinds of incentive based programs that can help us move towards more efficient way of living, which will then reduce the amount of power necessary and also, hopefully, in turn, improve air quality.
For us, this is an issue that we're gonna have to come at, from every direction. The transportation sector is one of the highest sectors for us in terms of emissions.
Got a tip? Email Pablo Arauz Peña at parauzpena@kera.org
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