Mission gets a new expressway overpass

MISSION — It’s a sign of the times in more ways than one.

Officials announced Monday about $21 million in federal stimulus funds that will pay for road upgrades along Bryan Road  — the primary access to the new Anzalduas International Bridge.

The announcement came only after other stimulus projects across Texas came in below budget, officials said.

Texas — the Rio Grande Valley in particular — has fared better than other parts of the U.S. amid the economic recession.

Despite that, contractors across the state remain “really hungry for work,” said Mario Jorge, who heads the TxDOT Pharr District. Those low bids freed up the money that made funding the Mission project possible, he said.

The Bryan Road project will create a new interchange at Expressway 83 and create an additional bridge over Trinity Street. Expressway 83 traffic will pass over Bryan Road, which will intersect directly with the expressway’s frontage roads.

Pat Townsend, director of the Mission Economic Development Corp., said the upgrades will improve safety along Bryan Road — especially at the expressway intersection, already a flashpoint for congestion and collisions. And it will help stimulate economic growth along the four-mile span that leads south toward the Rio Grande.

Dangers at the existing intersection could be compounded if the city is able to convince federal officials to open the bridge to truck traffic earlier than expected, Townsend said. The bridge is currently slated to open to trucks in 2015.

“We have existing safety issues with the current traffic load that imperils the safety of people just by the design,” Townsend said. “This is without anything trying to access the future international bridge. I think TxDOT’s recognition of that is very important.”

TxDOT officials approved funding for the Bryan Road project — also known as Farm-to-Market Road 396 — during a meeting on Friday. The state had an additional $28 million to spend on “shovel-ready” construction projects and the Mission project qualified.

Jorge said TxDOT still needs to acquire additional right-of-way property for the 1.75-mile roadway expansion, which will join up with upgrades already under construction north of the Anzalduas bridge.

TxDOT anticipates the project will be put out to bid in March 2010, with construction set to begin in May. Construction should wrap up by early 2012.

Construction on the Anzalduas bridge is expected to wrap up in October.

Mission Mayor Norberto Salinas said once completed, the new Bryan Road will give the city “plenty of land to develop.”

“We are going to have a hard time the next two years” during the construction, Salinas said. “But it will pay off for us for the rest of our lives.”

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Monitor staff writer Jared Janes contributed to this story.

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