The Mission City Council approved a $3.3 million contract for five impacted studies to be conducted as part of the ongoing project to construct an international bridge connecting Mission and Reynosa.
The council unanimously approved the contract with S&B Infrastructure during a special meeting Monday, taking a significant step forward in the progression of the bridge project.
As part of the agreement, S&B Infrastructure will conduct five impact studies for the project that will look at the feasibility of its railroad component in the United States and Mexican, and pedestrian and vehicular traffic as well as the environmental impact on both sides of the border.
S&B previously conducted a feasibility study and presented its findings to the council in 2018. However, that study did not examine the Mexican side and did not include the railroad component of the project in its scope.
“This is a humongous step because it moves the Mission Madero-Reynosa International Bridge from the planning phase, which was phase 1, to the pre-construction phase which is phase 2,” Mission Mayor Armando O’Caña said of the contract, which he noted was negotiated down from S&B’s bid of $4.7 million to the agreed-upon $3.3 million.
As part of the agreement, the environmental study alone must be completed between two and six years, according to O’Caña, to align with the city’s schedule.
Because the environmental study would have a three-year shelf life once completed, the council said it did not want the study to be completed too far ahead of the proposed 2027 construction date.
“We’re fine with the six years — whatever it takes to meet the schedule the city has,” Phillip Pawelek with S&B Infrastructure told the council Monday.
Over the last few years, the city began to heavily prioritize work on the project after it had been delayed for decades.
The city acquired a presidential permit for the international rail and vehicular bridge in 1978 and initially faced an expiration date of July 2021, but O’Caña said the city received a letter from the U.S. Department of State notifying them that the deadline has since been removed.
“But we have to show good faith efforts that we’re moving forward,” O’Caña said. “We can’t do it the way it was done the last 10 years.”
