BROWNSVILLE, Texas - Cameron County Regional Mobility Authority Executive Director Pete Sepulveda has given an update about the Gateway Pedestrian Bridge-Riverfront Development.
He spoke about the project at a meeting of the South Texas Manufacturers Association, held at the Brownsville Events Center.
“The county and City of Brownsville have been working on a downtown revitalization project called Riverfront. This concept will have us building new pedestrian bridges at the Gateway bridge,” Sepulveda said.
“There was a kickoff meeting between the General Services Administration and Cameron County and the City of Brownsville for the Brownsville Gateway, Port of Entry, $265 million project. The federal government had not invested in the Gateway since the Eisenhower era, and so it was completely outdated.”
Sepulveda said the federal government is going to make a significant investment.
“But there is one particular area they (the federal government) are not addressing. And that is the conflicts that exist between passenger vehicles and pedestrians. And every morning, Monday through Friday, I guess maybe four or 500 students from Matamoros cross at Gateway to come to school,” he said.
“We get school busses that go right in front of Gateway. And so, there is a bad, bad conflict between passenger vehicles and pedestrians. So, this would fix that, that conflict. It's a small, small project. It would require two bridges, one coming north, one going south, with all new CBP requirements.”
Sepulveda said the bridge would have all the latest requirements by Customs & Border Protection.
“We submitted back in the second week of December, a presidential permit application to the Department of State. We just had a meeting with them last week, a very, very good meeting.,” he said. “We had some additional questions clarifications, but I think this project is going to move forward and clean up what we need to clean up.”
Sepulveda added: “The Gateway Bridge, with the distance, it will complement the rural front development project as well and get that portion of the project going. We'll have an area designated for drop-off and pick-up of students, both for passenger vehicles and for school buses. So, it's a really good plan that we've come up with.”
Cameron County is the owner-operator of the Gateway International Bridge, which crosses the Rio Grande River, connecting downtown Brownsville to downtown Matamoros. The bridge has served for centuries as the primary connection of commerce and culture with Matamoros and other communities throughout Texas and Tamaulipas.
Through an Inter-Local Agreement, Cameron County engaged its Cameron County Regional Mobility Authority (CCRMA) and Cameron County Transportation Reinvestment Zone Number 6 (TRZ #6) to oversee the development, construction and financing of the remodel and associated riverfront redevelopment.
The CCRMA submitted a Presidential Permit Application for Gateway Bridge on December 6, 2024.
