Many people have been trying to get a second causeway from the mainland to South Padre Island built for decades — long before the partial collapse of the Queen Isabella Causeway on Sept. 15, 2001, made clear just how much another bridge to the island is needed.
For the more than two months it took to replace the missing sections, the only way people could go to and from the island was by ferry, barge or helicopter.
But even that tragedy, in which eight people died after plunging off the 160-foot gap that was created when a tugboat pushing a chain of barges struck the bridge and cause two sections to fall into the Laguna Madre, wasn’t enough to turn that need into results.
More than two decades later, new hopes are being raised by the announcement that the Texas Transportation Commission has approved the creation of State Highway 104 from FM 106 near Bayview to Park Road 100 on SPI.
Let’s hope it actually happens this time.
Officials credit these plans of joint efforts by the Rio Grande Valley Metropolitan Planning Organization, Cameron County Regional Mobility Authority and state entities including the Texas Department of Transportation and even Gov. Greg Abbott’s office.
Generations of previous county and state officials have tried just as hard to get this thing built. The need for a second causeway is obvious, even without the 2001 collapse.
Even on normal days, traffic on the Queen Isabella Memorial Bridge — renamed in tribute to the lives lost in the tragedy — is heavy enough to make many people think twice about spending a day at the beach.
Valley officials have long lobbied for a second causeway. Legislators have even offered bills seeking to commit state funding for the project. One suggested building a turnpike, with tollbooths that would be removed once the costs of the project had been covered. That only prompted lawmakers from other areas to push through legislation prohibiting toll bridges.
Even a proposed route gained popularity; it would have created a span from Holly Beach to an area near the South Padre Island Convention Center.
Those plans didn’t survive the preparatory work that the new effort also must pass, beginning with environmental assessments and other evaluations. Environmentalists and others interested in keeping the area as pristine as possible fought the effort, and can be expected to raise their voices against this new project.
Such concerns must be addressed, which is why they are mandated. Still, they must be weighed against other issues that might arise, both supporting and against a second causeway.
They include many known but immeasurable factors, such as the amount of gas wasted and pollution created by constant gridlock on the Quen Isabella Bridge.
The lives that might have been affected or lost because transportation problems compounded medical emergencies.
The millions that might have been lost because because developers, businesses and tourists decided lack of access made their to desires not worth the trouble.
We welcome the latest effort to build a second option to get on and off the island. However, we can expect many people to hold their excitement until more progress is evident.
