PHARR — Plans that have been years in the making are finally coming to fruition as local leaders broke ground on a 12-mile toll road that will connect border ports of entry.
The Hidalgo County Regional Mobility Authority marked the beginning of construction of the 365 Tollway, a 12.22-mile toll road that will connect the Anzalduas and Pharr ports of entry which is expected to cost $255 million.
“It was no small feat to get here,” said Francisco “Frank” Pardo, the director of the HCRMA. “The project required three years of environmental investigations, the purchase of over 680 acres of right-of-way, a complex design package, utilities relocations and a toll collection system.”
All the work, Pardo said, was an investment into a corridor that will connect various ports of entry that he said are vital to the local and national economies.
“It is forward-looking infrastructure like the Pharr Interchange, U.S. 83 relief route, and the future (International Bridge Trade Corridor).”
The IBTC will be a 13.8-mile toll-free highway that will connect several ports of entry to Interstate 2 and will complement the 365 Tollway, Pilar Rodriguez, the executive director of the HCRMA, previously told The Monitor.
The hope with the toll road is that it will address traffic congestion by moving heavy truck traffic off of the main roads.
“We need to make sure that we alleviate and address the congestion that’s taking place,” Hinojosa said. “(The 365 Tollway) is key to alleviate the congestion, is key to continue the growth.”
A lot of that truck traffic comes from Mexico, pointed out state Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa who noted the tollway project is significant because of the trading partnership with Mexico.
“Here in the Rio Grande Valley, just the Valley — in Hidalgo County and Cameron County — it’s over $50 billion of trade a year,” Hinojosa said. “The city of Pharr, alone, is over $34-35 billion a year. So the growth is here … the economy is strong here.”
