WESLACO, RGV – A small portion of the border wall in Brownsville is going to be moved to make way for the East Loop project, a top transportation official has announced.
Pete Sepulveda, executive director of Cameron County Regional Mobility Authority, gave a report recently to the Rio Grande Valley Metropolitan Planning Organization. In that report he spoke about a “small portion” of the border wall being moved.
“There is an order that was signed by a federal judge, that when the project was ready to go to construction, then DHS would have to relocate a portion of that wall. We have a levee as well so IBWC would have to work with them (Border Patrol) to relocate the levee,” Sepulveda told the Rio Grande Guardian, after the RGVMPO meeting.
DHS stands for the Department of Homeland Security. IBWC stands for the International Boundary and Water Commission.
The East Loop project is otherwise known as the State Highway 32 project. The loop will connect Veterans Bridge to the Port of Brownsville and divert commercial vehicles away from the residential Southmost area of Brownsville. Around 1,000 commercial vehicles travel between Veterans Bridge and the Port of Brownsville each day, according to studies by the Brownsville Metropolitan Planning Organization.
“We are talking about the Southmost area of Brownsville. It is called the East Loop project. It will connect Veterans Bridge to the south side of the Port of Brownsville,” Sepulveda said.
“We have got a general agreement with all the agencies to move forward. Obviously, we have go to do everything to their specifications. But, that (moving the border wall) has always been part of the plan. It is not a big portion of wall.”
Editor’s Note: The main image accompanying the above news story shows U.S. Border Patrol agents watching a gap in the border fence by the Mexico-US border near Brownsville, Texas. (Photo: Loren Elliott/Reuters)
