WITH HIKE- AND-BIKE-TRAIL EDDIE WIN, CCRMA FEELING HEAT

By Juan Montoya

Even though Cameron County legal counsel is of the opinion that appointed County Judge Pete Sepulveda doesn't have to resign and let runoff winner Eddie Treviño take the reigns of the county, there are those who differ on the issue.

Watching these developments with some anxiety are the appointed members of the Cameron County Regional Mobility Authority who may have staked their financial futures on cashing in on the planning, engineering and construction of the planned West Loop Boulevard.

That project is worth $100s of millions as is the planning and construction of a second causeway to South Padre Island.

The project of a second access to the Island has been under review by the Federal Highway Administration since 2014, when the CCRMA submitted the Final Environmental Impact Statement for the project to FHWA and expects a decision by the end of 2016.

Once it gets a green light from the FHWA, then comes the fun part of finding a way to fund the estimated $680 million project.

As the Brownsville Herald's Steve Clark wrote in the past: "Before any private investors would be willing to commit, however, a “traffic and revenue” study would have to be conducted, he said. That by itself could cost $3 million...The new causeway would be a toll road unless another way can be found to pay for it."

And even if the town of South Padre Island is against a toll road, if there is not enough money to “SPI is one of those that if we get enough money from the state to build it, it might not be a toll road, but right now it’s planned that way.”

Cameron County Administrator David Garcia said the county supports all of CCRMA’s projects, including the second access.

“From the county’s perspective, hopefully that’s going to alleviate a lot of the bottleneck during the busiest times of the season,” he said. “We support that project because of that reason and because hopefully it will increase economic development on the Island.”

With Treviño champing at the bit to take over and direct the construction (and contracts), whatever the set-up and agreements may have been on the planning board may have to change, disrupting deals that may have been on the table.

As far back as 2006, Treviño, Sepulveda, the CCRMA and former county judge Gilberto Hinojosa had been talking about doing the same thing with the abandoned Union Pacific right-of-way easement.

In fact, during a meeting of the Texas Department of Transportation on April, 2006, the commissioners voted to give the road the go-ahead and disbursed millions to complete studies of both the West Lopp toll road project and the second causeway.

"In Minute Order 109788, dated September 30, 2004, the Texas Transportation TTA Commission (commission) authorized the creation of the Cameron County Regional Mobility Authority (authority), with the boundaries of the authority to be the entire geographic area of Cameron County. Minute Order 109788 further provided that the initial project to be developed, maintained, and operated by the authority would be a proposed 7.25-mile toll road, known locally as West Loop. The West Loop project would consist of a four lane divided facility that would follow the current right of way of the Union Pacific Railroad beginning at US 77/83 and extend south to Palm Boulevard in the city of Brownsville.

The project will provide an important north-south corridor and a reliever route for some of the noncommercial traffic, and will provide for improved access to the Brownsville central business district. An additional project being pursued by the authority is the Second Causeway to South Padre Island. The second causeway would provide a much needed alternate route from the island to the mainland and would facilitate evacuation in the event of a hurricane."

Further, the TxDOT commissioners alsofound that the "request for financial assistance submitted by the Cameron County Regional Mobility Authority meets the requirements of 43 TAC §27.53 and §27.54(a) and, in accordance with those provisions, the commission grants preliminary approval of the request for financing in the amount of $21.6 million, in the form of a loan, consisting of $12.4 million for the West Loop project and $9.2 million for the Second Causeway project, and directs the executive director to implement the actions authorized and required by those provisions."

The CCRMA, therefore, incurred these obligations based on the planned construction of both the West Loop Boulevard and Second Causeway as toll roads.

However, with the CCRMA board members serving at the pleasure of the commissioners court, any disruption of the board membership or its plans would have a tremendous impact on the doling out of the planning, engineering and construction contracts.

During the recent runoff race for the Democratic Party nomination for county judge, Treviño came out against the construction of a West Loop Boulevard and championed the Hike-and-Bike Trail to be built on the abandoned Union Pacific Railroad right-of-way easement.

Now, with his election, will there be a move to have him replace Sepulveda before January 2017? And if there is – since Sepulveda was himself appointed to Carlos Cascos' unexpired term continuing today – will Eddie continue to support the trial or will he make changes to please his constituency?

Either way, it does not bode well for those there today.