Your site plan closes a county road. One no vote stops it.

Outside city limits, the public roads through and around a Texas campus site may be county roads, and §251.016 gives the commissioners court "general control over all roads, highways, and bridges in the county." When the site plan needs one of those roads closed or moved, the bar is high. Transportation Code §251.051(b) says "A unanimous vote of the commissioners court is required to" close, abandon or vacate a public road, or to alter one "except to shorten it from end to end." One member voting no keeps the road open.

The next subsection adds a build-first rule. The court "may not discontinue a public road until a new road designated by the court as a replacement is ready to replace it." So on a campus whose plan crosses a county road, the closure vote and a finished replacement road are schedule items that sit with the county, separate from city and utility approvals.

Angelina County shows the shape. The agenda for its Oct. 13, 2026 commissioners court meeting listed a proposal for legal research and drafting of a road use agreement between the county and AMP Z Champion Data Center Holdings, LLC. KTRE reported that day that the court approved $1,500 for an attorney and that the company wants part of a nearby road closed before construction. In the same report, County Judge Keith Wright said the county hopes to have Twin Oaks Road and John Kolb Road rebuilt at the company's cost. Those details are KTRE's and are unconfirmed until the county posts its minutes.

What a closure order does

Each county classifies its public roads as first-class, second-class or third-class (§251.007(a)). An entire first-class or second-class road cannot be discontinued, closed or abandoned unless it "has been vacated or unused for at least three years" (§251.051(d)). A closure of part of a road does not face that test.

Once the court votes, §251.058 governs the land under the road:

• Title to a closed, abandoned and vacated segment, "to the center line of the road," vests in the owner of the abutting property on the date the county judge signs the order (§251.058(b)). A narrow exception in (b-3) covers certain roads in some Texas-Mexico border counties.
• A copy of the order is filed in the county deed records and "serves as the official instrument of conveyance from the county to the owner of the abutting property." It names each owner who receives land and the dimensions conveyed.
• A utility or common carrier with eminent domain may use the road for a right-of-way or easement. If so, the order must say the title is subject to that use and to infrastructure in place when the order is signed (§251.058(b)(4)). The court must notify that utility at least 30 days before the order is signed (§251.058(b-1)). Electric, gas, telecommunications and video facilities all count (§251.058(f)).
• When an abutting owner asks for the closure, the court may require that owner to pay reasonable administrative and recording costs and to "reimburse the county for the market value of any property interest conveyed to the owner" (§251.058(d)).

Read with §251.058(b), an owner that holds the land on both sides of a segment takes both halves of the road bed. A neighbor is in a different position. Under §251.058(a), a property owner may not enjoin the order unless the owner's property abuts the segment being closed, or the segment "provides the only ingress to or egress from the person's property." Owners who abut the road at another point keep a right to seek compensation for lost value or impaired access under the same section. In Angelina, KTRE quoted the county judge on the residents of Twin Oaks Mobile Home Park: "They wouldn't be able to go to the south all the way to 103."

What the county can require of construction traffic

The court's tools for construction traffic come with limits set by state law.

• Load limits. The court may set load limits on county roads and bridges (§251.153), but under §621.301(a) "only with the concurrence of the Texas Department of Transportation." Concurrence is deemed given 30 days after the county submits the limit with supporting documentation and calculations reviewed and sealed by a Texas-licensed engineer. TxDOT may review the limit and withdraw concurrence at any time after those 30 days. A limit takes effect when TxDOT erects signs on the road under the court's order (§621.301(d)). Vehicles running under the state permits listed in §621.301(e) may still use the road on their permit terms.
• Heavy-vehicle routes. The court may require vehicles over 60,000 pounds gross to use an alternate route to prevent excessive damage from the volume of that heavy traffic (§251.1575(a)). The route must be strong enough for those loads and lie in the same county. Notice follows §251.157: notices that name the road, the expected duration and the alternate route, posted where drivers can detour (§251.1575(b)). A hauler made to use it is not liable for damage there unless the cause is wanton, wilful and intentional misconduct or gross negligence (§251.1575).
• Hearings. Before the court issues a traffic regulation under Subchapter E, it must hold a public hearing (§251.152). Notice goes in a newspaper of general circulation in the county 7 to 30 days ahead. In a county of more than 78,000 people, §251.159 lets the court post signs in place of notice required by other laws. There, a hearing is required only if a resident of the county asks in writing before the eighth day after the later of the sign posting or the §251.152 notice.
• Damage. The operator and owner of a vehicle are jointly and severally liable for road damage caused by negligent operation, or by operation at a time prohibited by the officials with authority over the road (§251.160(a)). The county judge may sue to recover those damages, with the county attorney representing the county (§251.160(b)).
• County permits. For an overweight or oversize commodity "that cannot be reasonably dismantled," the court, through the county judge, may issue a county permit for up to 90 days (§623.018(a), (b)). The permit covers county roads, not state highways or roads inside a city. The court may require a bond "in an amount sufficient to guarantee the payment of any damage to a road or bridge sustained as a consequence of the transportation authorized by the permit" (§623.018(e)).

There is a hard limit. For a vehicle operating under a state permit issued under §623.011 or §623.402, a commissioners court may not require the owner or operator to "execute or comply with a road use agreement or indemnity agreement" (§623.018(d)). The same subsection bars a county permit, an added fee or other weight-based regulation of that vehicle, a county filing requirement, and any bond or letter of credit other than the one §623.012 prescribes for a §623.011 permit. The senior general counsel of the County Judges and Commissioners Association of Texas (CJCAT) wrote on Feb. 1, 2026 that state overweight permits reach county roads. In his view, that leaves counties "effectively limited" to a damage suit under §251.160, and most "do not have sufficient enforcement programs" to identify the trucks.

So the county cannot make every truck sign a road use agreement. It can refuse to close a road. Sitebraid's read is that, on a campus, the closure vote is the point where county consent is required, and the road use agreement is where the haul terms get written alongside it.

What a county road use agreement asks for

Freestone County's road use agreement, bond and permit form, marked updated Jan. 5, 2026, cites §623.018 and is one county's template. Its terms include:

• A map of "Designated Roads" approved by the county before work starts. No other county road may be used for access.
• On a designated road, "damage shall be presumed to have been caused by vehicles traveling to and from the Project unless specifically proven otherwise."
• Road preparation at the applicant's cost ahead of "heavy or wide loads," defined as "any load exceeding 54,000 pounds in gross weight or 36,000 pounds per axle, and any load more than 12 feet in width."
• Maintenance of the designated roads by the applicant during construction. If the applicant does not repair within 30 days of a demand, the county may repair and bill it.
• Replacement or repair of county culverts and bridges in the project area that the project's heavy loads require.
• A surety bond, with the amount left blank for each project. The agreement ends in 2 years unless the applicant confirms which roads the bond still covers.
• An indemnity that survives two years after commercial operations begin, and insurance with commercial general liability limits of $1,000,000 per occurrence and a $2,000,000 aggregate.

The CJCAT column recommends two engineer reports for the county: one on road conditions before construction, with a maximum damage estimate, and one after, with the repair amount. It pairs them with a surety bond "in the amount of the estimated maximum damage." Bond sizing, the repair option and the term are negotiated county by county. Neither the statute nor the Freestone form sets a bond amount for a data center.

Before the site plan and haul plan are final

These are the sponsor's calls, made with counsel. The steps below gather the facts for them. None of this is legal advice.

1. Map every county road that touches the site, with its class under §251.007. Mark each one the site plan closes, realigns or crosses. Confirm which of them are county roads rather than city streets or state highways, since the §251.051 vote covers the county's public roads.
2. For each closure, list every abutting owner and anyone whose only access uses the segment. Those owners can seek an injunction under §251.058(a); other abutting owners keep damage claims under §251.058.
3. List every utility and common carrier using the road, and mark those with the right of eminent domain that use it for a right-of-way or easement. Those get notice at least 30 days before the order is signed, and the order conveys title subject to their use (§251.058(b)(4), (b-1)).
4. Design the replacement road and set its completion date ahead of the closure, since the court cannot discontinue the old road until the new one is ready (§251.051).
5. Price the closure: administrative and recording costs, the market value the court may require for the conveyed land (§251.058(d)), and any road rebuilding the county asks for.
6. Build the haul plan by vehicle class: gross weights, which trucks run on state permits under §623.011, which loads cannot be dismantled and need a county permit under §623.018, and the posted load limits and alternate routes on each route.
7. Decide with counsel what to offer the county in a road use agreement: designated roads, engineer condition reports, bond form and amount, who repairs, term, indemnity and insurance. Ask the county for a template, since forms differ.
8. Put the closure vote and the agreement on the same commissioners court calendar, before the site plan is final and before heavy haul starts.