HARLINGEN — Two corridors connecting Harlingen and San Benito will create a “loop” around northern Cameron County aimed at spurring development across rural areas.
On Monday, Cameron County officials christened a $1.9 million, 0.86-mile project connecting FM 509 and Williams Road.
“We’re proud that we’re turning ideas — plans that have been in the works for years — into reality,” County Judge Eddie Treviño Jr. told a group of area officials Monday at the crossroads of Williams and San Jose Ranch Road in San Benito, referring to the project funded through county money expected to be completed by November.
On Friday, officials held a ceremony breaking ground on a $12.7 million, 3-mile project connecting FM 509 and Sam Houston Boulevard in San Benito.
The project was funded through about $7 million in federal money, $1.8 million in state funds with about $2.9 million coming from local tax dollars.
Construction, set to begin this month, is expected to run through October 2023.
“We’re creating a corridor of opportunity for development,” County Commissioner David Garza said Monday. “It’s economic development for the growth of Harlingen and San Benito. Now it’s up to the cities — how much they want to invest.”
Commercial lifeline
The project connecting FM 509 and Sam Houston Boulevard will create a direct route between Harlingen and San Benito.
“It’s a direct connection to a major retail sales center in Harlingen,” Mayor Chris Boswell said. “It’s going to bring connectivity to the cities.”
In San Benito, the projects are expected to spur development along rural areas surrounding the city, Mayor Rick Guerra said.
“It’s great for San Benito and Harlingen,” he said. “There’s potential for growth. Everything’s connecting — coming together.”
Economic development
Twenty-two years ago, Garza drew sketches on a napkin to outline part of his plans for County Administrator Pete Sepulveda as they sat in a restaurant.
“For 20 years, we’ve been working on connectivity,” he said. “It’s creating a loop around the San Benito and Harlingen area.”
The network of roadways is expected to lure developers to open more subdivisions across the swath of rural areas, he said.
“Build it and they will come,” he said. “The development we’ve seen in Harlingen coming this way has been phenomenal. People want to move out here. There are going to be homes built here to go on the tax rolls.”
The new roadways will also boost property values in the area, Garza said.
“We’re creating ocean-front property,” he said, referring to bridges spanning the area’s resacas. “We’re going through the resacas twice.”
Amid increased traffic, businesses are expected to pop up along the roadways.
Meanwhile, FM 509’s expansion will create a corridor handling increasing truck traffic bound for the Free Trade Bridge at Los Indios, Garza said.
South Padre Island shortcut
In Harlingen, the corridor will offer residents a shorter route to South Padre Island.
“This is an alternative way to reach the Island,” Garza said. “It’s like a short cut. This corridor will connect anything east of us to the Island.”
Meanwhile, the corridors will help relieve growing traffic along Interstate 69 and Business 77, giving San Benito residents new routes to take to and from work in Harlingen and its medical complex.
In case of highway emergencies such as hazardous materials spills, the corridors will also offer officials routes on which to detour motorists, he said.
