Local leaders dispute Mexican media reports on Anzalduas bridge

McALLEN — Local leaders are denying claims by the mayor of Reynosa that work on the U.S. side of the Anzalduas International Bridge has been delayed by cost overruns and problems with contractors.

Reynosa Mayor Oscar Luebbert, speaking at a news conference, said work on the Mexican side of the bridge remains on schedule, according to a story published by Mexico's Reforma news agency Monday.

A report last month in El Mañana newspapers of Reynosa and Matamoros also quoted an official from Marhnos - the company tasked with building Mexico's side of the bridge - who said construction on the U.S. had been completely halted because of the economic recession here.

"I don't know where they are getting their information," said McAllen Bridge Director George Ramon in an interview Tuesday.

Claims that the project has been drastically delayed or even halted are untrue, he said.

Ramon, along with Mission Mayor Norberto Salinas and McAllen City Manager Mike Perez, also denied Luebbert and Marhnos' assertions in the Mexican media.

Luebbert could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

The cities of Mission, Hidalgo, McAllen and Granjeno stand to profit from the massive project.

Locally, $28.5 million is being spent on the bridge and a connecting access road. Ramon said that part of the project is on schedule.

However, problems with the $25 million federal contract awarded to Alabama-based construction firm Brasfield & Gorrie LLC pushed back the expected opening date of the bridge.

Officials had initially said the entire project - under construction since June 2007 - would be done by June this year.

But Brasfield & Gorrie's federal contract gives the firm a deadline of February 2010 to finish the project. The contractor will try to deliver the completed facilities by October 2009, according to McAllen officials.

The project manager for the inspection facility being built on the U.S. side did not return phone calls Tuesday.

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Jared Taylor covers law enforcement and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4439.