Converting the Anzalduas International Bridge into a full-service commercial port of entry is closer to being a reality now that the city has selected a company to construct the bridge’s expansion.
The city of McAllen awarded a $81.8 million contract to D. Wilson Construction Company in McAllen for the project that will add multiple lanes for trucks and new cargo bays for inspections.
The selection of a contractor comes after the city rejected the first round of bids that came in for the project in April.
At the time, the lowest bid came from Posillico Civil Inc., a New York-based construction company, with a cost of $81.2 million. The higher bid, at a cost of $87.6 million, came from Foremost Paving Inc., a company based in Weslaco.
With those bids coming in at a whopping $30 million higher than the $50 million the project was initially estimated to cost, the city decided to re-bid the project. However, City Manager Roel “Roy” Rodriguez said the high cost was not the only reason the city decided to restart the process.
“We didn’t reject it because of the amount, but because of what was lacking in their proposal,” Rodriguez told The Monitor in June.
He said the proposals lacked technical issues required by the Texas Department of Transportation, or TxDOT, which he said was the primary reason they were rejected.
“I don’t want to leave the impression that we rejected it and we expect it to come way down,” Rodriguez said.
And the price did not go down.
The two bids submitted were from Posillico, which came back with a higher price tag of $83.5 million, and D. Wilson with a bid of $81.8 million.
The Weslaco company did not submit a bid the second time around.
The contract awarded to D. Wilson comes with a contract time of 320 days, or approximately 11 months.
To help cover the costs of the project, the North American Development Bank awarded the city a $63 million loan. The city also received a $22 million grant from TxDOT.
The city plans to pay off the debt with revenue from the bridge.
The Anzalduas bridge, which is owned by the city in partnership with the cities of Hidalgo and Mission, opened in 2010 to vehicular traffic. But now, efforts to convert the bridge into a full cargo port are in full swing.
In 2016, the bridge began to allow southbound empty truck traffic, but when the expansion project is completed, the bridge will be open to north and southbound cargo trucks.
“International trade from Mexico into the United States is of vital importance to the State of Texas and no one understands this better than the City of McAllen,” Mayor Javier Villalobos said in a statement Monday. “That is why we are investing in constructing the commercial inspection and cargo facilities at Anzalduas International Bridge, which will help to grow this trade for the benefit of not only the United States and Mexico, but also Texas and the local economy, as well.”
