By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
Two Val Verde County residents told city council members they are opposed to the proposed site of a second international bridge northwest of Del Rio.
After the meeting, city officials told the 830 Times they plan to meet with residents concerned about the bridge and its connecting routes.
The two residents, Jordan Ediger and Bruce Henderson, asked Del Rio City Council members to place an item to discuss the proposed bridge site on the agenda of a future council meeting. Ediger and Henderson spoke during the citizen comments portion of the July 25 regular city council meeting.
Ediger went first.
“First of all, I’d like to request, formally, that we add this discussion topic to the next city council meeting, so that we can have conversation with the council, please,” Ediger told the council.
“I heard, and I hope I’m wrong, the county provided a letter to the city, and the county (commissioners court) had voted 5-0 that they will only entertain a bridge on the south (side) of Del Rio, and I heard that the city is planning to rebut with a letter saying that they will only entertain a bridge north of Del Rio,” Ediger said.
“I also heard, and I hope I’m wrong, that the (Mexico) state of Coahuila, the city of Ciudad Acuña and maquiladoras also said the same thing. So what I would like to recommend is that you look at the city of Del Rio, look at Val Verde County and realize that if you (place) a bridge north of Del Rio, you’ll be creating a safety and security issue for all of your residents, not only in the city, but also the county.
“Also, I have a petition with over 600 signatures on it. These are city of Del Rio and Val Verde County residents signing a petition saying, ‘The residents of Del Rio and Val Verde County demand that a new international bridge not be placed north of Del Rio, between the city of Del Rio and Lake Amistad. A new international bridge north of the city of Del Rio places all the residents who live in the city of Del Rio and Lake Amistad at a significant increased safety and security risk. In addition, the further development of international truck traffic north of Del Rio will reduce the valuation of the residential property of the residents of Val Verde County and effectively, the economics of the city of Del Rio. An international bridge south of Del Rio is the only feasible option for Val Verde County and Del Rio’,” Ediger read.
Ediger said more people are signing the petition every week.
“Look at the land south of Del Rio. There is actual, no-kidding, vacant land, with zero homes there as an opportunity, and the only problems with creating a bridge that I’ve heard from that south route is one, the plan for the north route has been going on for 15 to 20 years, which is not a good argument because that ship has sailed, and the second argument that I heard is also is that current industrial zone has to be connected to the second bridge, which is, in actuality, a separate conversation,” Ediger said.
Henderson also spoke to the council about the same topic, starting his comments by saying he lives in the county and his family has lived in the area since 1974.
“We’ve lived primarily out by the lake, and I’m here to speak to you today about the construction and proposal for the new international bridge, which is very concerning and very alarming, not only to myself, but everyone out there in that area,” Henderson told the council.
“There’s been people that have lived out there for 50 years and there are people who have lived out there for two years. If you look at the city, the economical growth of Del Rio, look at the residents, look at the homes. Where are the most expensive homes – half a million dollar homes, one million dollar homes – being built at?” Henderson said.
“They’re not being built on the south or in the city of Del Rio. They’re being built out around the lake. Del Rio is naturally growing, residentially, toward Lake Amistad.
“The traffic in the last three years, I can attest to, has grown 200-300 percent. In the mornings, everybody’s leaving their homes in Lake Ridge and all these new subdivisions, going in to work and coming back, so traffic is getting bad,” Henderson said.
“There’s truck traffic already, that’s not necessarily traffic from Del Rio, but it’s through traffic, around the Loop, coming in, going to El Paso. I encourage all of you to go out and look around the Exxon, around Diablo East, there’s trucks constantly setting around on the side of the roads because that’s how much traffic is out there.
“So for the city of Del Rio to say look, we’re going to put a port of entry on the north side of Del Rio, period, we’re not even going to discuss the south side. We’ve invested a lot of money in this project. We want it on the north side. I agree with some of the other residents (north of Del Rio): it’s going to cause a safety concern. There will be accidents.
“When you start putting a residential community with an industrial park – and from what I understand, they’re trying to build an industrial park right there in the middle of our residential area – and it is surrounded by homes, 360 degrees, there’s obviously going to be an accident. There’s going to be something in the future, and we don’t want to see that,” Henderson said.
“I think as councilmen, let’s look at what’s right for Del Rio. Not for one individual or four or five individuals or landowners or citizens. Let’s look at a whole picture, and I encourage each one of you to give it a lot of thought,” he added.
Henderson said the planned Ports-to-Plains route will connect through Highway 277 and won’t come anywhere near Highway 90 north of Del Rio.
“So, like we said, the proposal to put (a second bridge) on the south side of Del Rio connects directly to the Loop. Future growth will be on Loop 79: hotels, truck stops, you name it. That’s where the growth should be. And if you’re looking at growing the city, that’s where I would go,” Henderson finished.
Mayor Al Arreola and City Manager John Sheedy committed to another public meeting to again discuss proposals for a second international bridge in comments made to the 830 Times after the meeting.
“I know people are going to come in with a lot of things that we can’t answer right now. We’re still waiting on the consultants. . .We will have another public hearing, like the one we did before. We will definitely look at it,” Sheedy said after the meeting.
Arreola concurred that the city will have a future meeting to further discuss the proposed second international bridge.
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