By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
Del Rio City Council members on Feb. 8 voted to proceed with work to obtain a presidential permit for the construction of a second international bridge.
But whether or not a second bridge between the city and its counterpart across the Rio Grande, Ciudad Acuña, Coah., Mexico, will actually be built is a decision that remains in the future.
Council members discussed the project following a presentation by Michael C. Riojas, senior project manager for S&B Infrastructure Ltd. of San Antonio, the company that has worked on studies for a possible second bridge.
Before the discussion, Mayor Pro-tem Jim DeReus asked Assistant City Manager Manuel Chavez, who had introduced the presentation, what staff needed from the council, whether it was simple consensus or something more formal.
Chavez said staff would follow up by presenting the council with a formal resolution to move forward at some later date.
“Our purpose tonight was to give the council an update of where we are,” Chavez said.
Councilman Raul Ojeda asked if changes in administration in the city of Ciudad Acuña or in the state of Coahuila would affect the project.
“We have been meeting with the new alcalde (Acuña mayor) here in the last week or so, and he, too, was given an update of where we’re at in the process. A lot of work has been done up to this point, and they had their consultants as well, and it seems they’re in line with the project,” Chavez replied.
Riojas said as soon as the council formally approves moving forward, he and the consulting team in Mexico would plan a joint kick-off meeting to coordinate further efforts.
Councilman Alfredo “Fred” Carranza Jr. asked if the city’s international bridge board would be contributing the $5 million required for the next phase of work.
“The bridge board has committed to those $5 million, correct?” Carranza asked.
“Yes. Through time, we’ve been setting aside reserves, which we’ve called reserves for future construction. At this point, we’re a little over $5 million in those reserves, and the bridge board has been made aware that if we were to move forward, we would more than likely use this funding,” Chavez said.
“And the bridge board was totally for investing this $5 million, if I recall, because I attended that meeting,” Carranza said, noting that bridge board member Al Cervantes, seated in the audience, was nodding in agreement.
Carranza then spoke about the greater expense, the estimated $130 million-plus to build the bridge itself.
“The biggest part of that that I can see is the road that we would need to construct (leading to the bridge). Have we had any discussions, is there any chance, what is the probability, that maybe TxDOT or the federal government participates?” Carranza asked.
Riojas replied the chance existed, but added TxDOT won’t look at the project until the city completes the presidential permit process.
Carranza also said, “The question comes up, ‘Do we need a second international bridge?’ That’s always the question. And I think that several things have happened, even over the last few months. One was the immigrant crisis we had a few months ago, when we had all the people underneath the bridge. The bridge had to close down. The city of Del Rio; it was really a federal decision, but it cost us a whole bunch of money to shut the bridge down. That for sure shows the need (for a second bridge).
“It’s not just the bridge revenue that we lost. It was how it impacted the maquila industry. They were unable to move their goods back and forth, and just being shut down a week, what’s the financial impact to all of those companies? So that definitely shows, I believe, the need is there.
“The other thing is if we look at our bridge right now, usually during the week one lane is shut down because of the truck traffic. They’re waiting to cross over. They’re stuck there on the bridge. They close down one of the lanes, and we basically become a one-lane bridge just for the regular people that are visiting over there.
“Even with the crisis going on now, it continues. We’re always on the verge of being shut down again. I feel like the need is there. We’ve put this off for how many years, like so many other projects in the city of Del Rio. We’re looking at $132 million; 10 years ago it would have cost us half of that.
“I believe the city of Del Rio, and we as leaders and decision-makers for these big types of projects, we need to move forward. We do. That $132 million will easily approach $200 million here in the next few years. I highly encourage and I highly support the building of this new bridge,” Carranza said.
Councilwoman Alexandra Falcon Calderon asked what year the city began discussing a second bridge.
Chavez said the city began its first feasibility studies in 2012.
DeReus asked about the financing for the construction of the bridge.
“I assume . . . we would have to go to a referendum and try to issue bonds for the city. Is that correct?” he asked.
“Correct,” City Finance Director Alberta S. Barrett replied.
DeReus then made a motion for the city to proceed with the next phase of the project. Ojeda gave the second, and the remaining five members of the council present voted in favor.
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