By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
Vehicle crossings of the city’s international bridge dropped in June compared to numbers recorded in the same month last year, the bridge superintendent told members of the city’s international bridge board Tuesday.
International Bridge Superintendent Jose L. Castillo gave the June monthly report on bridge operations, including vehicle crossing numbers and monthly bank deposits.
Castillo first presented the vehicle crossing analysis for June.
He said 2,232 fewer automobiles and 869 fewer commercial trucks crossed the bridge in June than those that had used the facility in June 2023.
The bridge superintendent reviewed the total bank deposits made from bridge revenues for the month of June, noting a total of $558,349.84 had been recorded from toll crossing income, $72,106 from pre-paid in-house revenues, $109,039.50 from web payments and $7,811 from wire transfers. Castillo said bank deposits for the month totaled $747,306.34.
Castillo went over the monthly traffic report for the bridge, noting the facility saw a 1.54 percent decrease in the number of automobiles and pickups crossing than in June of the previous year.
He said there was a 13.35 percent decrease in the number of commercial trucks in June, compared to the number of commercial trucks that had crossed the bridge in June 2023.
Castillo said the bridge saw a 22.96 percent increase in the number of bicycles crossing and a 16.83 percent increase in the number of pedestrians.
Castillo also presented the superintendent’s operations report on activities at the international bridge during June.
He said on June 5, U.S. Customs and Border Protection shut down the bridge for a drill exercise from 8 a.m. to 8:30 a.m., “causing traffic to back up on the U.S. side.”
“At approximately 6:42 p.m. on June 5, Del Rio Police Department units passed the toll booths heading toward the bridge to check on a suspected accident. No ambulance was called, and no damage to bridge property was reported,” Castillo told the board.
“On June 6, at approximately 2:45 a.m., a Del Rio police officer responded to a silent alarm that was activated around the toll plaza administration building. Per officer report, the alarm turns out to belong to U.S. Customs and no issues were reported,” Castillo said.
He said also on June 6, the Kohler emergency generator behind the toll plaza administration building was discovered to be leaking antifreeze.
“The fleet department was notified and promptly responded with a mechanic to evaluate the situation; it was reported it was the water pump found to be faulty and needed to be replaced,” Castillo said.
On June 7, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers were checking southbound traffic on and off all day, “causing periodic backups as they checked the vehicles in the lanes.”
Castillo reported on June 12, he attended the Texas and Mexico connectivity presentation at the Del Rio Civic Center.
“On June 18, U.S. Customs checked southbound traffic throughout the night, and there were no traffic issues. Also on the 18th, I attended a meeting at City Hall for the opening of bids for the bridge mill work set to start this fiscal year,” Castillo said.
He reported also on June 18, city fleet manager Frank Rocha notified him that the new water pump for the emergency generator behind the toll plaza administration building was expected to arrive on June 20. Castillo said the new water pump was installed on June 25.
Following Castillo’s presentation, Mayor Al Arreola, who serves as chairman of the bridge board, asked the board members if they had any questions.
Board member Seferino Gomez III asked Castillo to elaborate on the Texas and Mexico connectivity meeting he had attended on June 12.
“It was a presentation at the civic center, and they were talking about the stuff that was going to be going on as far as the second bridge, pros and cons. That was pretty much it,” Castillo said.
Arreola then asked Interim City Manager Manuel Chavez to speak further about the June 12 meeting.
Chavez said, “It was a TxDOT (Texas Department of Transportation) meeting, and that was something that was for the entire region. We did have some discussions regarding Interstate 27 and any other TxDOT projects that are happening up and down the border, specifically the ones that are here in Del Rio, and each entity from the United States and from Mexico had an opportunity to disclose and provide information so that, as they’re putting together their next funding availability, what projects are available, ongoing, so that they can be able to help and provide help putting those particular projects together.
“And we did have staff members from the city that did provide some input, and we also heard from Acuña’s side as well, at this particular event,” Chavez finished.
The mayor thanked Chavez and moved on to the next item on the agenda.
The writer can be reached at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com.
