BROWNSVILLE, Texas - A study by a transportation think tank found that an area with interstate connectivity moves higher value products on its highways than one that does not.
This information was provided by Pete Sepulveda, executive director of Cameron County Regional Mobility Authority, at a recent meeting of the South Texas Manufacturers Association.
He said the study was conducted by the Texas A&M Transportation Institute.
“So, today, the Rio Grande Valley continues to be the largest metropolitan area in the United States without an interstate corridor. I mean a seamless interstate corridor,” Sepulveda said.
"We’ve got segments of US 77/83 that are signed as I-69E. However, we do not have a seamless interstate. There's a huge area in the King Ranch that does not meet interstate standards.”
And so, Sepulveda explained, the Valley does not have a seamless corridor from Corpus all the way to Brownsville.
“That has been an economic development deterrence to Cameron County and the whole Rio Grande Valley,” Sepulveda said.
“The Texas Transportation Institute, TTI, at Texas A&M, did a study for TxDOT. They compared two different areas in the state. One area had direct interstate connectivity, the other area was without interstate connectivity.
“So, the value of commodities going to the area that has interstate connectivity, which was Laredo, versus the value of commodities to another that does not have interstate connectivity, which was the Rio Grande Valley… the value was four to one.”
The value of commodities passing through Laredo was four times higher than those passing through the Valley, Sepulveda explained.
“We've been deprived of economic development for too long,” Sepulveda said. However, he said fully integrated interstate connectivity is not far away.
“We're at the tail end on 77, another $270 million will get us there. US 281, I believe, needs about $350 million. So, that's not a lot of money for the State of Texas, and yet it will give us direct connectivity,” Sepulveda said.
“It will give direct interstate connectivity to 14 international bridges in the Rio Grande Valley, three deep water ports, six or eight airports. And so this is a strong push that we have in Austin and Washington right now. Get us the funding to get a seamless interstate corridor into the Rio Grande Valley.”
Editor's Note: A call to the Texas Transportation Institute was not returned at press time.
