Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
A proposed alternative route to connect a second international bridge with U.S. Highway 90 northwest of Del Rio was unveiled during an open house meeting Thursday, but property owners near the route still aren’t happy.
Thursday’s open house meeting at the Del Rio Civic Center drew more than 100 attendees, many of them owners of property west of the city. The meeting was hosted by the city’s consulting engineers on the project, RRP Consulting Engineers of San Antonio, formerly S&B Infrastructure Ltd.
City Communications and Marketing Director Anita Pruneda Mariner welcomed those attending.
“Representatives of (the consulting engineers) will be presenting the revised project alternatives that resulted from public comments received during and after the first public meeting. Following the meeting, we do invite you to stick around for one-on-one comments with the consultants. Your written feedback will be incorporated into the environmental documentation for the proposed project,” Mariner said.
She introduced Michael Riojas, senior project manager for RRP Consulting Engineers.
Riojas once again went over the project, which encompasses the proposed construction of a second international bridge over the Rio Grande, linking the cities of Del Rio and Ciudad Acuña, Coah., Mexico, and its associated roadways and infrastructure.
Riojas said the second bridge is being considered to enhance safety, by moving commercial trucks out of the cities of Del Rio and Ciudad Acuña, and to facilitate the movement of commercial truck traffic through the region.
Riojas briefly reviewed the history of the existing bridge, which was initially built in 1930 and reconstructed in 1987, as well as a feasibility study, through which the proposed site of a second international bridge was selected. That site, Riojas showed on a projected map, is about five miles upstream of the existing bridge.
Riojas then turned the presentation over to Barbara Castille, environmental scientist, who briefly reviewed the environmental process.
“The National Environmental Policy Act requires that any project that receives federal funding or federal permits or approvals include a review of the project impacts to the human and natural environment. So the project (for a second bridge) will require federal approval and federal permits prior to construction. . . The National Environmental Policy Act requires federal agencies to consider environmental affects that would have impacts on social, economic and cultural resources and natural resources as well,” Castille noted, adding those impacts would be enumerated in an environmental assessment document.
Castille said a public meeting was held on the project in November 2022.
“At this public meeting, two conceptual roadway alternatives were presented,” she said.
She said the first alternative went north from the Rio Grande and then east along Las Brisas Boulevard to connect with Highway 90.
The second alternative went northeast from the river and also connected with U.S. 90 west of Del Rio.
“After that public meeting, we received a lot of feedback, so thank you very much for filling out those comment forms. It is very important to us and really important to the planning process,” she said.
Castille said after the November meeting, based on the many comments received, “we looked at everything and came up with another alternative.”
She directed attendees’ attention to an orange-colored line on a projected map and on a handout given to those at the meeting.
“That (third) alternative resulted from feedback from the public,” Castille said.
She turned the presentation back to Riojas, who went over the new alternative in more detail.
Riojas said many of the comments received after the first meeting dealt with concerns about potential increases in traffic and possible resulting decreases in value of homes and properties along Las Brisas Boulevard.
The revised route also heads north from the Rio Grande, then makes a slight bend east before connecting to Las Brisas Boulevard. The route follows Las Brisas, then turns northeast just before the intersection of Las Brisas and Danda Lane and continues northeast to intersect U.S. Highway 90 in the area of Hold Up Pass, just west of the old Wright’s Steak House and about two miles west of the U.S. Highway 90 intersection with State Loop 79, the map indicates.
After reviewing the route, Riojas again urged those attending the meeting to fill out comment cards. He said the company will take comments through Friday, June 23.
He also discussed the future steps in the project, which include completing the environmental document and applying for the presidential permit for the bridge. He said right-of-way acquisitions for the project could begin in 2025 and 2026.
Under an “optimistic schedule,” Riojas told the group, construction could begin in 2028.
Riojas closed the meeting by reminding those present they were invited to stay and visit with RRP representatives individually, which many did.
Others after the meeting made a beeline for elected officials who attended, including Mayor Al Arreola and County Judge Lewis G. Owens Jr. Other elected officials who attended the meeting included County Clerk Esther Chapoy, County Attorney Davids Martinez, County Commissioner Pct. 3 Beau Nettleton, Mayor Pro-tem Steve Webb, Councilman Jim DeReus, Councilwoman Alexandra Falcon Calderon and Councilman Jesus Lopez Jr.
At the end, a group of about 20 property owners with concerns about the route remained, and Owens, who spoke with them in the parking lot outside the civic center, promised another meeting with elected leaders about the project in the near future.
