A large scale highway infrastructure project meant to connect some of Hidalgo County’s international ports of entry to the interstate highway system has been tapped to receive federal funding, announced U.S. Rep. Filemon Vela, D-Brownsville, Thursday.
The $3.5 million earmarked for the International Bridge Trade Corridor project is part of about $17.3 million proposed for infrastructure projects throughout the Rio Grande Valley and are a part of the Investing in a New Vision for the Environment and Surface (INVEST Act), which passed the U.S. House of Representatives Thursday, Vela said via a news release.
“Revitalizing our nation’s infrastructure is a necessary investment that will improve America’s productivity and long-term growth,” Vela said of the bill, which passed with bipartisan support and now awaits Senate approval.
In total, the INVEST Act would pump $715 billion into transportation and water infrastructure projects across the country over the next five years if passed by the Senate, as well. The funds will go toward roads, bridges, transit, rail and clean water projects, the release states.
“Funding for these projects will not only create jobs, but also bolster the economic development of the region. It was an honor to support this legislation on the House floor today, and I look forward to its immediate consideration and passage by my Senate colleagues,” Vela said.
For Pilar Rodriguez, the executive director of the Hidalgo County Regional Mobile Authority (HCRMA), the money earmarked in the bill for the International Bridge Trade Corridor (IBTC) would be an added boon to the project, which is just one part of a more ambitious project.
“This project complements what we call the 365 Tollway,” Rodriguez said of the IBTC.
“This IBTC… is the non-tolled (portion). So, it provides connectivity to the 365 Tollway, which will allow traffic to move all the way over to the Anzalduas bridge,” he said.
The overall infrastructure project aims to provide highway accessibility between some of Hidalgo County’s busiest ports of entry — in Pharr, Progreso, Donna and McAllen — and Interstate 2. The highways will run parallel to the International Boundary and Water Commission floodway between Military Highway and the interstate.
“These projects are nationally significant because they connect international ports to an interstate,” Rodriguez said.
The combination of tolled and non-tolled highways that make up the project have been in the works since 2000. But it wasn’t until 2013 that the project started getting traction, which allowed officials to begin what Rodriguez termed “advance project development.”
That advanced project development includes engineering, right-of-way acquisition and environmental clearance.
“We’re going through the NEPA process. We’re actually at the tail end of it and we’re kind of in the home stretch already,” Rodriguez said, referring to the National Environmental Protection Act, whose policies govern large scale industrial projects.
After years of planning, Rodriguez expects the first phase of roadway construction will go out for competitive bids as early as August.
That will be for the 12.2-mile stretch of the 365 Tollway, construction of which is being financed. Construction is expected to take 48 months, Rodriguez said.
It’ll be some time yet before construction of the 13.8-mile stretch of toll-free IBTC highway gets underway, he said.
“Right now our plan shows to get IBTC under construction in 2025,” Rodriguez said.
Though the INVEST Act’s proposed $3.5 million for construction of the IBTC will certainly make a difference, Rodriguez said the figure represents only a small portion of the highway’s total cost.
Construction of the IBTC is expected to cost $180 million, or approximately $13.8 million per mile, due in large part to the roadway’s complexity.
It will be built of reinforced concrete in order to handle the heavier traffic of commercial trucks. The highway will also be controlled access, with on and off ramps.
And already, the HCRMA has invested more than $20 million in local funds for things like land acquisition.
Ultimately, the HCRMA hopes the Texas Department of Transportation will make the toll-free roadway part of its larger highway system.
“The IBTC, the long term goal is hopefully to put it onto the state highway system. And so this is one of those (where) we want to partner with TxDOT. We’ll environmentally clear it, we’ll acquire the right-of-way, we’ll design it, and then you build it and maintain it,” Rodriguez said.
