22 YEARS AGO PROJECT ROAD MAP WAS PASSED; AND STILL NO EAST LOOP IN BROWNSVILLE

By Juan Montoya
In 1993, then Republican Cameron County Judge Tony Garza and an unlikely majority consisting of the four other Democratic commissioners joined to get Project Road Map passed by the county's voters.
Project Road Map was a bond issue that included numerous projects, many since completed, that addressed transportation and drainage needs in the county, including some far-reaching projects such as the widening of Southmost Road in Precinct 1 and many other projects in the northern precincts.
After campaigning on behalf of the projects, the court saw the Project road Map successfully approved by a two thirds majority vote on August 14, 1993.
That group included Democrats Lucino Rosenbaum (Pct. 1), Carlos Cascos (Pct. 2), James Matz (Pct. 3), and Tivie Valencia (Pct. 4).
The commissioners court used the Texas Department of Transportation's Pass Through Financing Program program that would see only one-third of the cost paid by the county. The rest would be paid by the state as the projects came online.
That was in 1993, some 17 years ago.
One of the biggest selling points back then was the removal of the truck and hazardous materials traffic through East Brownsville from Highway 48 and International Blvd. Along the route, the trucks carrying the hazardous cargoes, congesting traffic and polluting the route with exhaust and noise, traversed next to schools, housing projects, churches, the college, neighborhoods and small businesses.
The wear and tear on the roads was constant, and the noise and congestion was, and to a large degree, still is, a nuisance to many people living along the route.
Since then, the city and county has been trying to get one of the projects in the Project Road Map bond issue on the ground. That is the East Loop, which will connect Veterans International Bridge at Los Tomates to the Port of Brownsville.
Now, after years of study and lobbying for the project, the Texas Department of Transportation awarded Cameron County more than $34 million for its construction.
At least one of the former commissioners says the move is long overdue and welcomes the funding.
"We had set aside funding for that from the Project Road Map bond issue almost 20 years ago," said Rosenbaum. "Subsequent administrations have kind of dropped the ball on it and now I'm happy to see that Carlos (Cascos) is getting the project going. He was one of my fellow commissioners when we went to the people to get the funding through the bond."
State officials say that rerouting the traffic from International Blvd and Highway 48to the East Loop will address the issues that prompted the consideration of the project nearly two decades ago. They say that it will "reduce traffic congestion, improve safety and the air quality, officials said. It would also increase the level of imports and exports on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border."
Right now trucks travels from Highway 48 to International Boulevard an then on to the expressway ramp to south U.S. Expressway 77/83 and on to Veterans Bridge.
"The project will allow us to move commercial vehicles that are overweight and carrying hazardous cargo from residential, commercial and school zones in one of the most heavily traversed streets in Brownsville," Cascos told the Brownsville Herald.
Under the Pass-Through program, the state allows Cameron County to pay for costs to build a transportation project then reimburse it when the project is operational.
In Cameron County’s case, the funding will come from various sources, including the bond issue monies approved by the voters way back then.
"I'm glad to see that this project is coming to fruition even after that long delay," Rosenbaum said. "I know Carlos is proud that a project we worked on together so long ago is actually becoming a reality."
Rosenbaum said that city and county officials will have to deal with the Department of Homeland Security when they get to the 15 acres of land the city transferred to the DHS to build a temporary Border Wall which then would be removed when the city begins construction on the East Loop project.
"After all this time, I'm sure that will be just one more detail they'll have to work out," he said. "All the ground work has been done for the project isn't going to come to a stop for that reason."
Among Project Road Map's more ambitious components was the extension of Expressway 77-Highway 83 past the old Lincoln Park to the site of the Los Tomates International Bridge, which has already been completed.
Reoad Map also included plans to Highway 48 into a four-lane highway, and create a (East Loop) a loop beginning on Elizabeth Street and stretching to the Port of Brownsville.