AUSTIN - Texas highways may expand over the next decade at the expense of road maintenance, according to a plan the Texas Transportation Commission signed off on Thursday.

The Commission agreed to a funding plan that projected the state would spend $28.2 billion on highway maintenance and expansion projects over the next 11 years.

Of that amount $12.4 billion would be spent on maintenance and $4.5 billion on mobility projects.

James Bass, CFO for the Texas Department of Transportation, said the amount the agency plans to put toward maintenance would not be sufficient to maintain all highways at current standards.

By 2019 TxDOT estimates the pavement quality on 20 percent of the highways will be worse than they are today.

“You don’t let your house deteriorate and build a new garage,” said Commissioner Ted Haughton. “I think we’re headed down a very rocky road.”

The funding plan does not include $5 billion in Proposition 12 bond money that the legislature can make available to TxDOT during the next legislative session.

Commissioners expressed some concern about what impact issuing the debt would have on future budgets. The debt service of $5 billion would be about $400 million annually, according to TxDOT officials.

State Sen. Troy Fraser, R–Horseshoe Bay, has said that the debt service on the bond is an issue that concerns the Legislature and not TxDOT. He said the payback on the debt would not come from an existing TxDOT revenue stream.

Haughton expressed concern Thursday about the state’s willingness in the future to pay off the bond debt.

“What is the appetite for $400 million?” he asked.

Projected allocations for each district have been calculated but the figures for the Waco District were not available on Thursday, so it is unclear how these projections may influence Interstate 35 expansion projects in Bell County.

Commissioners expressed concern over how the allocations to districts had been derived and agreed to revisit the issue at a future meeting.

“We’re here because our allocation process is broken,” Haughton said.

Another plan that was presented but did not receive serious consideration called for $17.3 billion to be spent on maintenance but did not provide any funds for mobility projects.

The funds in that plan would still fall short of what TxDOT projects it would need to maintain Texas highways over the next 11 years.