The project is part of the “2027 Unified Transportation Program,” or UTP, which TxDOT officials approved during a meeting on Wednesday, August 26. The plan greenlights some $138 billion in spending over the next 10 years for road maintenance and new highway projects across the state, including several major expansions of highways across the Rio Grande Valley. MySA first reported on the expansion of Texas 4 — known locally as “Highway 4” — in late-March.
“Texas’ booming economy and growing population demand a transportation system that keeps people and products moving safely and efficiently,” Gov. Greg Abbott said in a statement.
“This $138 billion investment will strengthen our roadways, reduce congestion, improve safety, and support growing communities across Texas,” Abbott further said.
Similarly, TxDOT said the plan represents its commitment to road safety by increasing “funding for rural corridors and key economic hubs.”
Highway 4 is one example of how quickly highway needs can change. A decade ago, the two-lane highway, which lacks shoulders in many places, was sufficient for the sparse amount of traffic that used it to traverse from Brownsville to Boca Chica Beach, the undeveloped stretch of sand that meets the mouth of the Rio Grande at the southernmost point of the Texas coast. It wasn’t uncommon for beachgoers to park their vehicles where the highway ends, quite literally, in the sand drifts of the beach. But now, one of the most advanced space launch operations in the world lies just a few dozen yards away with an entire city that has grown up around it.
Since Starbase incorporated last summer, the city has continued to expand, as have SpaceX’s activities. Over the last year, SpaceX has built a second Starship launchpad and is currently building a $500 million spaceship factory called “GigaBay.” Both projects have brought thousands of new workers — and vehicles — to the town via the only highway that reaches it.
As MySA previously reported, between January 1, 2019, and December 31, 2023, average daily traffic on Highway 4 increased from 645 vehicles per day to 4,683. But that data was collected long before Starbase became a city and even before SpaceX built its five-story-tall headquarters. As traffic has grown, the aging highway has struggled to keep up. Much of its 14-mile span is marked by large potholes, cracks and crumbling asphalt edges. TxDOT admits the highway has become a safety hazard — one where crash rates are “1.5 to 2 times higher than similar Texas roadways,” the agency said in March.
But the $192.4 million project aims to fix that. Starting in 2027, crews will begin expanding the highway to four lanes with continuous shoulders and a dedicated median. The road surface will also be made of concrete, which will be better able to accommodate the heavy truck traffic that SpaceX relies on to supply its rocket manufacturing facilities. Inside the Starbase city limits, crews will also build a 3.75-mile-long bike path.