Good morning, Chairman Hines and distinguished members of the House Select Committee, we want to welcome you to the Rio Grande Valley. In particular, on behalf of Cameron County, welcome.
Cameron County is part of the four-county Rio Grande Valley and to say that Cameron County is unique would be an understatement. Where else in the U.S. do you find a county with an international land border, a coastal border and six modes of transportation - air, sea, rail, highway, pipeline, and space. Cameron County truly is one of a kind.
Let me take the members back to Sept. 15, 2001. I think all of us will recall the mood of the country and the tension that we felt. In the early morning of Sep. 15, just four days after 9/11, a barge struck a support column at the Queen Isabela Causeway at South Padre Island where eight people died as a result of falling into the Laguna Madre. Was this part of 9/11? Was this part of the terrorist attack? We did not know. But we realized, and already knew at that point that a second causeway was needed. That was the only connection between South Padre Island and the mainland.
Twenty years later we still only have one causeway connecting South Padre Island. For approximately 60 days the residents of South Padre Island were landlocked and had to take boats or ferries in order to cross or get the essentials in order to live. Many businesses were lost and were never able to recover and closed as a result. For an economically disadvantaged region we cannot let this happen again. We need a 2nd Causeway to South Padre Island.
Cameron County, South Padre Island, and the Cameron County Regional Mobility Authority have each committed one million dollars in order to get the environmental assessment accomplished. But we need the federal government’s help to assist the CCRMA in working with U.S. Fish and Wildlife so that we can both agree on mitigation plans for the extremely critical 2nd Causeway. We need to be able to meet with U.S. Fish (and Wildlife) to meet, discuss, and agree on mitigation plans.
The 2nd access to South Padre Island will involve a second crossing and allow a much needed alternate route from the island to the mainland. It would also facilitate evacuations in times of hurricanes or other natural disasters. We are always in the hurricane path on a yearly basis.
This project has an approximate cost of $450 million. TXDOT is the reviewing agency on the environmental document. We are looking to partner with the state of Texas and the federal government for funding opportunities.
The second project I want to mention in Cameron County is the East Loop project. The reliance upon international commerce is significant. In 2021, despite the restrictions on international travel, the county bridge system of Cameron County carried over three and half million crossings. The Port of Brownsville, which is the main economic engine of the Valley… there are also 270 businesses that alone would benefit from completion of the East Loop project, which would connect Veterans International Bridge to the Port of Brownsville and allow an overweight corridor. This, along with the causeway, are our two major projects in Cameron County. Again we need help with U.S. Fish & Wildlife to complete a land swap and arrival of a mitigation plan.
The third project I want to mention is here in Hidalgo County, the IBTC corridor, the International Bridge Trade Corridor which would allow and improve local and regional mobility for transporting persons and goods from international ports of entry in the area between US 281 and FM 493. Again, the lack of an interstate hinders the ability to move our produce and our products throughout the country. This project will obviously increase commerce and international trade.
I want to mention, boy, five minutes go fast, that in Cameron County we have committed over $50 million of local monies to leverage over $500 million in state and federal funds. We have eliminated at grade crossings and we have opened the first rail bridge in over 100 years between the U.S. and Mexico. We have utilized the TxDOT pass through program and we have also taken advantage of the federal donations acceptance program. We have two programs at the Veterans International Bridge, one for $15 million to increase the commercial primary lanes and also we will start construction on increasing of the commercial lanes. We also have a DAP project at the Free Trade Bridge at Los Indios which will allow southbound transmigrante and commercial traffic going into Mexico, to help inspections on dual sides.
We also want to make sure we protect our natural treasures, including Laguna Atascosa Wildlife Refuge, Bahia Grande, and the Lower RGV Wildlife Refuge, along with the Palo Alto Battlefield National Historic Park and most importantly our South Padre Island National Seashore.
I see that I am running out of time but two years ago the three MPOs, metropolitan planning organizations of the Valley merged to have one RGV MPO. We are in the process of committing resources and we are asking for your assistance. In Cameron County alone we have over $2 billion of projects planned, $80 million are shovel ready, $320 million are under design, and $1.6 billion are at the planning stage.
Again, we need the federal government’s assistance to get us to the point where we can build the infrastructure to meet the needs here in the Valley. Wow, right on time.
Editor's Note: The above remarks were made by Cameron County Judge Eddie Treviño (pictured above) at a field hearing hosted by the U.S. House Select Committee on Economic Disparity and Fairness in Growth. The hearing was held June 17, 2022, at the offices of the Lower Rio Grande Valley Development Council in Weslaco. As one of the allotted speakers, Judge Treviño had five minutes to make his remarks. Because of the time constraint he was not able to give his full presentation. However, his written testimony has also been submitted into the congressional record.
Editor's Note: The Rio Grande Guardian International News Service will have more coverage from the select committee's field hearing in future editions.
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