TEXAS, USA — A unique partnership is working together to bring the Highway Emergency Response Operator (HERO) road safety program to the Permian Basin to tackle road safety.
Permian Strategic Partnerships (PSP) gave a presentation at Tuesday's Ector County Commissioners' Court meeting about bringing HERO to West Texas.
Ector County Judge Dustin Fawcett was familiar with the program and advocated for it alongside the PSP representative.
"If we can save one life, I think it's worth it," Judge Fawcett said. "Really this is to be the first responders to the scene, it's not necessarily to take over from the first responders, it's to move any crash debris that's out there."
That mentality is the driving force behind bringing the initiative to the Permian Basin. PSP, Texas Department of Transportation, Midland County and Ector County are all teaming up to make this happen.
PSP shared their excitement with the following statement:
"The Permian Strategic Partnership’s Road Safety Committee has been gauging the interest of our community stakeholders on the possibility of bringing TxDOT’s Highway Emergency Response Operator (HERO) Roadside Assistance Program to the Permian Basin. We were honored to present this potential project to the Ector County Court of Commissioners and are encouraged to receive the community’s positive feedback. We look forward to sharing more about this exciting project as our work progresses. In the meantime, the PSP remains committed to long-term road safety solutions in the Permian." - Permian Strategic Partnerships
HERO units are typically dispatched to traffic-related incidents to clear roads and restore normal traffic flow, but that isn't their only function; they're equipped to handle a lot more.
"They have all the equipment on hand to help to remove debris out of the roadway to assist in EMS related services, air up tires and engage in anything to really make the roadways safer," Fawcett said.
This program could also help combat the tragedies that frequently happen on West Texas roadways.
In 2022, Odessa had one of the highest fatality rates out of all 25 TxDOT districts. They ranked at 3.24 percent compared to the statewide average of 1.44% fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled.
With that in mind, PSP proposed four trucks to patrol hotspots like Interstate 20 and Highway 191 during peak hours of traffic.
Judge Fawcett said 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. work best because, "that's where you see your influx of crashes, especially whenever you're heading eastbound in the morning and you're looking into the sun or when you're heading westbound in the evening, looking into the sun, you see these spikes and crashes."
A HERO program in the Odessa District would be the first non-metro program in Texas. There are currently HERO programs in Austin, Dallas, El Paso, Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio.
"It's an exciting thing to have out here," Fawcett said. "Certainly our GDP is up there with all of those metropolitan areas. Our economic impact is massive."
Fawcett explained that the oil and gas industry itself is very "transportation heavy" and even in prior positions, he advocated for more safety measures and increased state funding.
"Its something that we absolutely need to engage in and think outside the box on this and this is the perfect public private partnership," Fawcett said.
Even though this program is still in the early discussion phases, there is constant progress from all parties involved. Taking after El Paso's monetary breakdown, both counties are being asked to contribute $1 million each. Eventually, they hope the expense will be taken over by a private investor and the community can still have extra support and safety on the highway.
“Our goal is to have them out there 24/7 on Interstate 20 to where if there is ever an incident that is really blocking the roadway in any way or providing any type of hazard on the roadway, they will be able to move them off and to create safer roadways here in the Permian Basin," Fawcett said.
As West Texas continues to grow, so does the importance of keeping the roads safe.