By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
Members of the city’s international bridge board asked a series of questions about the city’s proposed second international bridge project during the board’s regular meeting on Tuesday.
The bridge board members asked their questions and discussed the second bridge after hearing an update on the project from Michael Riojas, of RRP Consulting Engineers, city’s consultants on the project. (See separate story here.)
After Mayor Al Arreola, who heads the bridge board, asked if there were any questions following the update, board member Seferino Gomez III asked Riojas to further explain the hydraulic analysis that is part of the environmental study for the new bridge.
“We have to get the hydraulic models from IBWC (International Boundary and Water Commission), and we’ve received those already. It’s a series of models. Basically what we have to do is update the existing models. The model is from 2003, so we have to update the cross-sections and re-establish a base flow, based on the flows the IBWC gets us. So we model the river without the bridge in there, and then we put the bridge in there, and we see what the impact is on the water elevation and stream flows,” Riojas replied, adding he does not believe the new bridge will have much impact on the stream flow.
Board member Frank Mendoza had another question.
He asked, “My question is if 90 percent, 95 percent of the community is going to benefit from a second bridge, are you trying to tell us that a small group of individuals can sway this project because you’re not hearing from that 95 percent who will benefit from the project?”
Riojas replied, “I don’t know if it can sway the project, but part of the environmental process is all the comments we’re receiving on the project. The majority of them have been negative comments on the different routes, and that’s why we went back and looked at alternatives. We really need to hear those positive comments, people who are wanting the project. We want to hear from that 95 percent.”
He added that along Las Brisas Boulevard, the route initially proposed as the main connector between the bridge and U.S. 90, the county had set aside 100-foot rights-of-way along both sides of the road, for a total right-of-way of 300 feet.
“Well, people are building inside that 300-foot setback already. They (the county) didn’t do a good job of monitoring all that, and people are saying, ‘We didn’t know the bridge was coming.’ I don’t know if (the negative comments) can sway it, but we certainly need to listen to and address those comments. It’s part of the environmental process, part of the federal process that we have to adhere to,” he added.
Arreola asked Riojas to give details about the different connector routes that have been identified.
Riojas said the consultants had initially identified two possible routes linking the bridge with U.S. Highway 90, and those two routes were presented during the second public meeting in November 2022.
“Our preferred route was the route tying to Las Brisas, then tying to Loop 79. We had a lot of comments from this neighborhood here, and we went back and looked at how can we avoid that. . . so now we’re looking at another route that will tie in just west of that, (a route) that will have less impact on the neighborhoods, and that’s the third route we will present at our next public meeting,” Riojas said.
Arreola said, “And I guess for all the citizens out there, Las Brisas is no longer in play, right?”
“Not that it’s no longer in play, it’s just that there’s an alternative. After the last public meeting, we’ll assemble all the comments, the additional comments that we get, and we’ll make a recommendation as far as a route. It could be we come down Las Brisas. That’s going to be up to the city to decide, how we’re addressing all these people here and what we do on that,” Riojas replied.
Gomez asked, “After that third public meeting, could there be a fourth alternate proposed route?”
“I’d rather not have that, but I guess there could be one,” Riojas replied.
“If we have this third public meeting and there’s enough concern that’s presented, will there be a fourth alternate route?” Gomez pressed.
“I hate to do that, but it’s really up to the city, and it depends on the comments we receive back. We’ve had other routes that we’ve looked at,” Riojas said.
He added his company had also looked at an alternate route proposed by Val Verde County officials, but told the board that because the county’s proposed route crosses the railroad track several times, “that really makes it cost-prohibitive.”
Arreola commented, “One of the key things the citizens should understand, first of all, Michael, you said something very important. Mr. Mendoza has been on us about promoting this, so that we can get that support from the business community and the citizens that are seeing this as a potential benefit to the county and the city. He’s been an advocate for us to put it in every paper that we can, and we’re going to go on that specific route with him and promote it and to let the citizens know, this is not just an adventure of the city saying we’re going to do this.”
The mayor added the city “has all our partners on board with us,” including the governments of Ciudad Acuña and Coahuila in Mexico, and the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) on the U.S. side.
Arreola said, “We have never done anything just on our own. We do get our partners involved because at the end of the day, everybody’s important, along with the citizens of Del Rio, but I think it’s something the citizens need to know, that this is not just a vision of the city, saying we’re going forward without anybody else, and there were rumors out there that we never got TxDOT involved. TxDOT has been involved from day one.
“Finalizing our route will be the number one key thing for us to really sit down with TxDOT and say, ‘Look, this is the route,’ and yes, Mr. Gomez, I kind of feel that every time we meet with the citizens out there in the county, we cater to them; no, but we listen, and we’re trying to get the best route that is going to benefit everybody, and regardless o the route that we select, I think there are some people that are not going to be happy,” Arreola said.
The mayor said the longer the city “procrastinates” in building a second bridge, the more expensive it will be. He said he believes the bridge board needs to do a better job at speaking to citizens about the benefits of the second bridge.
“We’re not hiding anything. Everything is out in the open. . . The voice out there is getting stronger, and one, they are not telling the truth because they have not seen anything and second of all, they’re trying to stir everybody, including our citizens, in the heart, trying to say that this is going to be a bad thing for us,” Arreola said.
He reminded the board that there was strong opposition to former Mayor Roger Cerny’s push to build the existing international bridge.
“They thought he was crazy, but it’s benefitted us. We’re making millions of dollars (from the bridge),” Arreola said.
The mayor said building the new bridge “will take a lengthy amount of time.”
Mendoza asked to be recognized again.
“I own the McDonald’s on Gibbs, and the highway department decided to put up delineators, and that affected my business. Then Wal-mart decided to do outside deliveries of food and medicine. That affected my business and I had to shut down the McDonald’s,” Mendoza said.
He reiterated a story he had told previously about the new elementary school off Agarita, saying he has to deal with lots of extra traffic in the morning, which he called “a nuisance and a bother,” but said he has a three-year-old great-grandson who will one day get to attend the new school.
“There’s give-and-take in all of this. Yes, the new school is an inconvenience for me in the morning, but I look at it as the future in three, four or five years, that school will benefit me and my great-grandson, because he won’t have that far to travel to go to school. There’s give-and-take in everything. We all have to bend a little bit for the community to grow, and that’s the whole idea of this project, for Del Rio to grow better jobs,” Mendoza said.
“We’re very good about talking, but now we’ve got to get it done. Let’s be about it. Let’s push it forward,” Arreola said.
After the mayor finished his comments, Chavez reminded the board, “Ports-to-Plains, Interstate 27, is coming, and we as a city need to be ready for it. We need to be ready with infrastructure. If not, the businesses will go down to the next city (on the route), which is Eagle Pass, and I’m sure that they’ll be ready for this, and since we’ll be the first port of entry (on the route), we as a city need to be ready, and with that is infrastructure and it starts with this second international bridge, and after that, you’ll see companies invest in Del Rio because we’re the first port of entry, and we need to be ready.”
The writer can be reached at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com
