This morning the Cameron County Commissioner Court will hear get a legal rundown on the potential merger of the three Rio Grande Valley Metropolitan Planning Organizations and how that merger could bring an additional $148 million to Valley cities.
Not for signs of the pie-in-the-sky Interstate 69, mind you but for the funding of needed projects right now, according to projections of the MPOs Merger Study Committee.The merger – as studied by the three MPOS and the staffers of the Texas Department of Transporation – would encompass the existing Brownsville, Harlingen-San Benito and Hidalgo County MPOs and hold more than 1 million residents. The proponents of the merged MPO say the 1 million inhabitants would give the area a seat at the table with the other large MPOs in the State of Texas such as Houston, Austin, Dallas and San Antonio when the federal and state funds are divvied up each year.
The latest projections by the MPO Merger Study Committee presented to the members June 28 indicate that such a merger would result in an additional $148 million to be disbursed to RGV transportation projects. In Cameron County that includes the second causeway to South Padre Island, the East Loop to connect Los Tomates Bridge to the Port of Brownsville and eliminate heavy traffic (and hazardous cargoes) from inside the city, and a potential West Boulevard (and hike and bike trail) on the abandoned easement of the Union Pacific Railroad.
However, and in spite of the fact that county and port reps on the Brownsville MPO (commissioners Alex Dominguez, David Garza, John Wood and Sofia Benavides) have all shown interest in the merger, the role of the biggest city here – Brownsville – hold veto power over the direction it wants to take.
So far, Mayor Tony Martinez has been steadfast against any notion of a merged MPO with its sister RGV cities. In a rambling seven-page letter he addressed to the state reps and senator, Martinez counseled against the merger saying that the city stood to lose money and that the Hidalgo County reps would bunch up against the city's interests to grab a bigger part of the pie.
Toward that end, he managed to stage a vote last month that declared such a merger "against the best interests" of Brownsville. Not one to leave things to chance, Martinez stacked the vote by hauling in members of hte MPO who mrarely attend the meeings. All the county reps voted not to close the door on the idea.
Instead, Da Mayor remains content to stage photo ops at the West Rail bridge which the city had little to do with, or in announcing the latest placement of I-69E signs that have sprouted along U.S. 59 all the way to Houston as a sign of progress.
No, there is no new interstate highway construction between Houston and here, but the signs are pretty and makes drivers believe they are on part of the interstate system as they seek to maneuver past road construction between Rivera and Robstown.
Well, sometimes appearances mean more than reality, we guess.
Expect a new photo op in the coming months when the local dignitaries (and the usual suspects) like Martinez, Eddie Lucio Jr and his clone Eddie Lucio III, Rene Oliveira, and their ilk will stand next to a road construction site along U.S. 77 and salivate over another batch (69?) of the new pretty red-white-and blue signs heralding the coming of the phantom interstate.
Then they'll go home driving on the same old road that brought them there.
3 comments:
Where are our State Reps. and State Senator when needed. It's obvious that Hidalgo County (McAllen, etc.) is the economic engine in South Texas. Look at how UTRGV or RGVTV turned out in both Med and etc. (They went to the NW Valley--soccer, baseball, basketball, and now football is in the mix). Our anchor in Deep South Texas is "South Padre Island and the Port of BROWNSVILLE.
Where are our State Reps. and State Senator when needed. It's obvious that Hidalgo County (McAllen, etc.) is the economic engine in South Texas. Look at how UTRGV or RGVTV turned out in both Med and etc. (They went to the NW Valley--soccer, baseball, basketball, and now football is in the mix). Our anchor in Deep South Texas is "South Padre Island and the Port of BROWNSVILLE."
Why the hell San Benito?????????????? If anything I can understand Brownsville > Harlingen > McAllen. Even South Padre..... But San Benito?????????? This leaves Brownsville to do all the heavy lifting again.
Post a Comment