Marc Williams, Executive Director, Texas Department of Transportation

In an interview with Invest:, Marc Williams, executive director of the Texas Department of Transportation, discussed how sustained infrastructure investment, technology, and long-term planning are helping Houston accommodate rapid growth while strengthening safety, freight mobility, and resilience. “We have a responsibility to maintain our transportation system and leave it in a better state than what we found it for the future generations to come,” Williams shared.

What transportation trends are having the biggest impact on Texas, and how are they shaping planning?

The Houston District is one of 25 districts within the Texas Department of Transportation, and it is our largest in terms of population, traffic, and construction activity. It serves Harris County along with Brazoria, Fort Bend, Galveston, Montgomery, and Waller counties. The region is home to about 7.2 million people, carries more than 175,000 daily vehicle miles traveled in the Houston region, and has 5.5 million registered vehicles.

That scale reflects not only the size of the region but also the importance of its transportation network. Houston’s growth has been supported and sustained by an interconnected system that includes highways, airports, ports, freight, rail, and transit. Each mode plays an important role, but the highway network connects them and links Houston to the world.

One of the biggest changes shaping our industry is the integration of digital infrastructure with physical infrastructure. Traditionally, transportation agencies focused on the roads and bridges themselves. Today, we are increasingly using digital information about how those assets were built, maintained, and operated to improve decision-making.

Intelligent Transportation Systems, including signals, cameras, traffic sensors, and connected technologies, provide real-time information about how the network is functioning. That digital layer allows us to better understand traffic conditions, optimize maintenance, strengthen resilience, and manage the transportation system more effectively.

How is TxDOT ensuring transportation infrastructure keeps pace with Texas’ growth?

Transportation infrastructure has been one of the key drivers behind Texas’ economic success. Businesses choose to locate in Houston and across Texas partly because they can access reliable transportation networks. The state invests heavily in those systems, including through ballot propositions that have directed oil and gas revenues and vehicle sales tax revenues toward transportation.

That investment creates a two-sided effect. Better transportation attracts more businesses and residents, which brings more people, vehicles, trucks, and demand for additional infrastructure. Harris County has been adding residents rapidly, increasing pressure on transportation as well as other systems, including water and power.

Our responsibility is to anticipate those needs and continue investing strategically. In Houston, much of that work focuses on serving broad regional transportation needs and supporting freight movement. The Port of Houston is a significant economic engine that generates large volumes of trucks carrying energy products, manufactured goods, equipment, imports, and exports.

Understanding freight patterns, identifying bottlenecks, and directing highway investments where they will have the greatest impact helps ensure goods continue moving efficiently throughout the region, across Texas, and nationally.

Which transportation investments will have the greatest impact on Houston’s competitiveness?

One of our most significant efforts is the North Houston Highway Improvement Program. This multibillion-dollar investment focuses on the central spine of Houston along Interstate 45, extending from downtown north toward George Bush Intercontinental Airport.

The program addresses several of Houston’s chronic congestion points, including key interchanges involving Interstate 10, Interstate 69, State Highway 288, and Interstate 45. Construction activity has already begun along the corridor, including projects near State Highway 288, Interstate 45, and U.S. 59.

We are also beginning procurement for a design-build project valued at more than $2 billion on the north side of downtown, where Interstate 45 connects with Interstate 10 and Interstate 69. Additional investments will follow over the coming years as we continue upgrading and modernizing the corridor.

Resilience is a crucial component of this work. When we modernize infrastructure, we also improve drainage and strengthen the network’s ability to withstand hurricanes, flooding, and other severe weather events. Houston has experienced the effects of those events, so resilience must be incorporated into transportation improvements.

How are you preparing the workforce needed to support this level of investment?

Partnerships are fundamental to developing and attracting the workforce we need.

We work closely with the construction industry, cities, airports, and other infrastructure owners and operators because we often need the same types of professionals. The talent required to build and maintain highways is also needed for other major infrastructure improvements across the region.

Houston is fortunate to have strong universities, including the University of Houston, Rice University, Texas Southern University, and Prairie View A&M University. Many have engineering programs that help prepare the students and future leaders needed to maintain the region’s transportation infrastructure.

By collaborating with universities, industry partners, and public agencies, we can help develop the engineers, planners, construction professionals, and technical specialists needed to sustain this work in the near term and well into the future.

What are your top priorities for the Houston District over the next three to five years?

Four priorities guide our work: safety, delivery, innovation, and stewardship.

Safety is first. Every project we undertake is a safety project because it is intended to make our highways and transportation systems safer. Tragically, Texas loses about 10 people every day in traffic fatalities, with roughly one of those fatalities occurring in the Houston area. We must continue working to reduce those numbers.

The second priority is delivery. Texans expect us to complete transportation projects efficiently, improve mobility and safety, and continue moving planned projects into construction. Delivering those improvements is central to our responsibility.

Innovation is another priority and one of the areas that excites me most. Transportation is evolving rapidly through digital delivery, artificial intelligence, and increasingly sophisticated data systems. Artificial intelligence is already helping improve operations within traffic management centers.

We have thousands of cameras across the Houston area, along with real-time information coming from vehicles. Artificial intelligence can help us digest that information through machine learning and large language models, recognize disruptions faster, and help operators respond more quickly.

The fourth priority is stewardship. We have a responsibility to maintain our transportation system and leave it in a better state than we found it for future generations to come. The investments we make today should support economic opportunity, mobility, and safety for our children and grandchildren.

How do autonomous vehicles fit into the future of transportation in Texas?

Autonomous vehicles are beginning to reshape transportation in meaningful ways. Houston is already seeing automated vehicle deployments from companies including Waymo and Tesla, and the data is beginning to show potential safety benefits.

These vehicles do not drink, become tired, or fall asleep. They can see 360 degrees around them and react to incidents faster than human drivers. Their rollout must be careful and deliberate, but they could become an important part of reducing fatalities.

Autonomous freight is also highly relevant to Houston. Several companies are operating autonomous freight routes between Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth because of the significant freight flow connecting the two regions.

Houston generates imports, exports, energy-related freight, and other products that move toward Dallas-Fort Worth, where many freight distribution centers are located. This creates a strong connection between two major metropolitan areas.

Texas is leading the nation in autonomous freight development, and the corridor between Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth is currently the most pronounced corridor for autonomous freight movement in the country. As the technology develops, it can support safer and more seamless freight movement.

What other major infrastructure investments will shape Houston’s future?

The North Houston Highway Improvement Program is only one part of a broader investment strategy.

Another major focus is the Grand Parkway, which provides a circular route around Houston. We recently awarded a $1.5 billion project to construct the next segment from Interstate 45 to State Highway 288 on the southern side of the region. We are also examining additional segments that would help complete the connection.

These investments support economic development by improving access to growing areas such as Fort Bend County. They are also important for emergency evacuation because the Grand Parkway can provide another route for people leaving Galveston and surrounding areas during a hurricane without forcing all traffic through downtown Houston.

We are also making improvements along Interstate 10 on both the east and west sides of the region. Work near White Oak Bayou is intended to improve resilience and increase the capacity of the transportation system.

Together, these projects reinforce a central message. Houston’s transportation investments support economic competitiveness, freight reliability, workforce access, resilience, and responsible preparation for continued regional growth.