Southwest’s Austin flight to Midland another top highlight
Mella McEwen, MRT.com/Midland Reporter-Telegram
James Beauchamp, President of the Midland-Odessa Transportation Alliance, speaks during the MOTRAN annual meeting December 12, 2019 at the Odessa Marriott Hotel and Conference Center. MANDATORY CREDIT: The Oilfield Photographer, Inc.
The Oilfield Photographer Inc./The Oilfield Photographer, Inc.MOTRAN got an early start on its holiday celebration at its 2021 Annual Review on Wednesday.
The Midland-Odessa Transportation Alliance highlighted what MOTRAN President James Beauchamp called a strong year.
“The only thing better would be if Santa converted the naughty list from coal to natural gas,” he quipped.
“One of the things we’ve done (at) MOTRAN is put a lot of money into telling our story,” including on social media, he told the gathering. “It’s going well. Telling our story and making sure we’re heard, telling why the Permian Basin is important.”
Beauchamp led off the event at the Petroleum Museum with a clip of the September visit by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, championing the designation of Interstate 14 to include Midland-Odessa and the central Permian Basin. In that clip, Cruz called the Permian Basin “Texas on steroids.” Beauchamp said he thought that comment was an apt summation of the Permian’s importance.
Interstate 14 through Midland-Odessa was one of four top highlights MOTRAN featured. Beauchamp said the new designation will provide better connections to strategic Gulf ports as well as connections to other ports like Savannah, Georgia, the third largest in the country. It will also connect energy production and national defense installations and serve as a critical hurricane evacuation route. The designation will expand the Permian Basin’s sphere of economic influence across five states – Texas to Louisiana through Mississippi and Alabama to Georgia to support economic growth in energy, agriculture and consumer goods.
What was key to the effort, which began in 2016, was support from elsewhere in the country, Beauchamp said.
“We need to make connections from one end of the country to the other,” he remarked. “It’s important to have friends all over.”
A second highlight is the progress on Loop 250 in Midland and Loop 338 in Odessa. This fall opened a new overpass on East Loop 250 with interchanges at County Road 1150 and County Road 60. MOTRAN leveraged the project in conjunction with the Midland Development Corp., which provided funding – along with the city of Midland and Midland County – to accelerate the project. A similar project underway at Loop 250 and County Road 1140 is scheduled for completion next month and will complete east Loop 250 from Interstate 20 to Todd Road. Progress is also being made in planning of Loop 338 expansion and development of a Pecos loop.
MOTRAN also celebrated the return of Southwest Airlines’ direct flight from Midland to Austin, which will take to the air this coming March 10 with departures from Midland at 6:30 a.m. and from Austin at 7:50 p.m.
The association also celebrated securing an additional $52 million in state and federal funding for area infrastructure.
While MOTRAN is celebrating its successes on the ground and in the air, Beauchamp indicated that the area’s dominant oil and gas industry has not been overlooked. He noted that Texas natural gas – including from Permian Basin fields – is the top export to Mexico “and we think it will get better. That means more connections, more markets.”