BROWNSVILLE — Cameron County commissioners have finally moved on from the Morrison Road issue that has been a discussion for a few weeks now.
As of yesterday morning, the county has granted a conditional use license to the City of Brownsville for the strip of land on the Morrison Road intersection.
“We didn’t want to issue it until we knew we had a document that was ready,” County Judge Pete Sepulveda Jr. said. “We wanted to make sure the county was legally protected from any type of liability that might arise as a result of that intersection.”
The license protects the county from any accidents that might occur on the land, Sepulveda said.
The county sent a cease-and-desist letter to the city when they began putting in sidewalks on the county-owned property, causing attorneys on both sides to sit and discuss terms.
Civil litigation counselor Juan A. Gonzalez said the issue was a matter of respecting property rights.
“What happened at the intersection is the city just did it. Ordinarily, you’d expect people or governmental entities to respect property rights and start reaching out before doing things to people’s property, and we (were) trying to think of a way to address that,” Gonzalez said previously.
The city views the discussions as a non-issue now, and the sidewalks are finished.
Brownsville City Manager Charlie Cabler said he was thankful the county has agreed to issue the license.
“I appreciate that. We’re working together in harmony to offer transportation modes for our community,” Cabler said.
Traffic is deverted from Morrison Road on the west side of the expressway due to the widening of Morrison Road. Traffic attempting to reach Home Depot or Academy must travel north to Alton Gloor and loop back to along the Southbound Frontage Road.
