BILL ANALYSIS
| Senate Research Center | S.B. 3034 |
| | By: Bettencourt |
| | Local Government |
| | 4/4/2025 |
| | As Filed |
AUTHOR'S / SPONSOR'S STATEMENT OF INTENT
S.B. 3034 will designate a portion of State Highway 249 in Montgomery and Grimes Counties as the Doug Pitcock Aggie Expressway.
Mr. Pitcock is a graduate of Texas A&M University Class of 1949 with a degree in civil engineering. In 1955 the Williams brothers and Mr. Pitcock founded the Williams Brothers construction company; the next year President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Interstate Highway Act. Since that time, Williams Brothers has completed over 400 Texas Department of Transportation projects with a total value of over $17 billion making the company one of the largest highway contractors in the United States as well as the largest in Texas. By 1984 Mr. Pitcock had bought out both of his original partners and was the sole shareholder till 1998 when it began to convert into an employee-owned corporation.
Mr. Pitcock has received multiple distinctions from Texas A&M University over the years, including a Distinguished Graduate of Texas A&M's Department of Civil Engineering, an Outstanding Alumnus of the Dwight Look College of Engineering, and The Association of Former Students Distinguished Alumnus in 2008. Additionally, Mr. Pitcock has funded numerous fellowships and research projects at Texas A&M and established several Corps of Cadets scholarships. The on-campus hotel and conference center at Texas A&M is named in his honor.
It seems only fitting that we name a portion of a Texas State Highway after the man who helped build so many miles of our roadways.
As proposed, S.B. 3034 amends current law relating to the designation of a portion of State Highway 249 in Montgomery and Grimes Counties as the Doug Pitcock Aggie Expressway.
RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
This bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, institution, or agency.
SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS
SECTION 1. Amends Subchapter B, Chapter 225, Transportation Code, by adding Section 225.243, as follows:
Sec. 225.243. DOUG PITCOCK AGGIE EXPRESSWAY. (a) Provides that, notwithstanding Section 225.001(c) (relating to authorizing a part of the highway system to be designated by the name of a person only if the person is deceased and was significant in certain subjects) and in recognition of Doug Pitcock's career as a leader in the highway construction industry, the portion of State Highway 249 between its intersection with Farm-to-Market Road 1774 in Montgomery County to its intersection with State Highway 105 in Grimes County is designated as the Doug Pitcock Aggie Expressway. Provides that the designation is in addition to any other designation.
(b) Requires the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), subject to Section 225.021(c) (relating to prohibiting TxDOT from designing, constructing, or erecting a marker unless a grant or donation of funds is made to TxDOT to cover the cost), to design and construct markers indicating the designation as the Doug Pitcock Aggie Expressway and any other appropriate information and erect a marker at each end of the highway and at appropriate intermediate sites along the highway.
SECTION 2. Provides that it is the intent of the 89th Legislature, Regular Session, 2025, that the provisions added by this Act be renumbered to prevent multiple provisions with the same designation.
SECTION 3. Effective date: September 1, 2025.
