As Mark Collette reports for the Corpus Christi Caller-Times, the Eagle Ford Shale oil boom is an economic “shot in the arm” for Texas, but the deteriorating roads are an unfortunate side effect.
If you’re a driver on any highway or county or farm roads near the Eagle Ford Shale and Barnett Shale in Texas, you understand. The roads weren’t built for heavy truck traffic going to and from the shale plays. In fact, there’s been an uptick in truck accidents because of the boom, causing catastrophic injuries to local drivers.
A whopping $500 million is the projected cost for five-year road maintenance in one district alone. And this number excludes roads that aren’t part of the Texas state highways, as Collette reports.
The Texas Oil and Gas Association is reportedly getting involved-after all, good roads are a necessary part of getting equipment to drilling rigs and getting oil and gas away from those rigs-having set up committee to focus on roads.
One industry representative says that truck hauling for just one well site is like eight million car trips-trips that are happening on county roads and farm roads that were never meant to take that sort of traffic.
As a result, drivers are getting into tanker truck accidents because lanes are too narrow, too congested, and too run-down.
Source: Eagle Ford Shale: Amid the oil boom, roads go bust