BILL ALL FOR BUILDING EXIT BEHIND HUDSON ELEMENTARY

By Juan Montoya

As the finger pointing begins on who is standing in the way of constructing what everyone seems to agree is a necessary exit behind Hudson Elementary to alleviate the peak-hours congestion in front of the school, one person who denies it has been him is developer Bill Hudson.
Hudson, who in 1997 donated two tracts of land for the construction of what everyone agrees is the premier school in the Brownsville Independent School District, told a Mexican reporter that people are wrong to blame him for stopping the construction of an exit that would empty into Draper Drive behind the school and onto Coffeeport Road.
"If anyone says that I was the one preventing the construction of the road, they're liars," he is quoted as saying. "In fact, I was willing to help to build the exit but we got nowhere."
The school district purchased the property that includes a residence at 115 Draper Drive with the intention of demolishing it and building an exit-only thoroughfare to relieve traffic coming from Seville Blvd. in front of the school.
During peak hours, that lone two-lane street handles all the traffic to and from the school off FM 802. Residents in the subdivisions along Seville say that the congestion during peaks hours prevent them from reaching their homes and, in case of a tragedy – emergency vehicles – from reaching their homes.
Further, they say that in case a medical emergency or a fire should occur at the school, there is no way that a fire truck or ambulance will be able to make its way to the victims though the dense traffic.
"I hate to think what would happen in case of a fire at the school," said a resident. "And if an elderly person suffers a heart attack in our neighborhood, there's no way he or she could get the medical help they need."
Some residents along Draper, however, have stated that they don't want any part of the traffic inside their neighborhood from the school. They also pointed out that there is no traffic light at the intersection of Draper Drive and Coffeeport to handle the additional congestion that would result if an exit was installed at the rear of the school.
"You'd just be creating congestion at two points instead of one," said a Draper Drive resident.
A staffer at the the Facilities Department at the BISD said they would recommend that the house owned by the BISD on Draper be demolished partly as a response to complaints from neighbors who object to its run-down appearance and overgrown yard.
However, he said that they would not recommend that an exit onto Draper be constructed.
"We want to build a loop from Seville around the school within the school property to allow the traffic to flow," he said. "But we aren't going to recommend that an exit be constructed to go into Draper Driver."
Former school board members say that protests from some residents in the area stopped the initial project to build an exit thereehern that board planned to build one. Further, they said that the city and state would have to participate to do it.
"Ultimately, it will be up to the current school board members to decide what course of action to take," he said. "Last time we tried to do it, we had to table it."
According to a tape recording of Hudson attained by a El Bravo reporter recently, Hudson says the exit was necessary back then and is still needed now.
"I was in favor of doing it," he is recorded saying. "If anyone says otherwise, they are liars."