New frontage roads to be added along U.S. 281
EDINBURG – The Texas Department of Transportation will add frontage roads to a five-mile stretch of U.S. 281 to build it to interstate standards through Hargill.
Portions of state bond proceeds will be applied in South Texas to highway improvements along U.S. 281 and U.S. 77 to advance the future development of Interstate 69. In Hidalgo County, the $13.2 million allocated to U.S. 281 improvements will reconstruct the main lanes and add frontage roads between Farm-to-Market Road 2812 and FM 490.
The newly funded construction will take all of U.S. 281 from the U.S. 83 interchange to FM 490, where the Edinburg airport is located, to interstate standards.
The improvements will allow for a faster flow of commerce through Hidalgo County, decongesting U.S. 281 by letting local traffic take the frontage roads, said Edinburg City Manager Ramiro Garza, a member of the state’s I-69 advisory committee. The construction could also lead to further development within two of Edinburg’s major industrial parks located near the planned improvements.
“By making those improvements to those sections, it allows the region to see its plan for an interstate highway closer to becoming a reality,” Garza said. “It’s such a key because those sections are some of the last sections needed in both Hidalgo and Cameron counties.”
The Texas Transportation Commission on Thursday approved the use of $3 billion in state bond proceeds, the last of the $5 billion in general obligation bonding authority approved by voters and the state Legislature in 2007.
In addition to the U.S. 281 improvements, the commission also approved $19.2 million to build an Expressway 83 overpass at Inspiration Road in Mission to widen the highway to six lanes between Los Ebanos Road and Palmview. About $5.5 million was also included to complete construction on Business 83 in Mercedes to the Cameron County line.
In Cameron County, the state approved close to $4 million to complete work on frontage roads along the U.S. 77 corridor.
U.S. 281 construction between FM 2812 and FM 490 will be split into two phases once environmental studies and engineering designs are complete. Scheduled to begin in the summer of 2012, the work complements a series of other improvements that have been funded along the U.S. 281 corridor.
In May, the state dedicated $9.2 million to the Hidalgo County Regional Mobility Authority to construct an overpass in Brooks County on U.S. 281 at Farm-to-Market Road 755, which will remove a dangerous intersection on the highway that stretches from Encino to Rio Grande City. Once the overpass at FM 755 is completed, it leaves a relief route around Premont and a connection to Interstate 37 from George West as two major traffic impediments left along U.S. 281.
It will cost an estimated $7 billion for U.S. 77 and U.S. 281 to completely reach interstate standards — including construction of frontage roads to limit direct access to the route — before they connect with Interstate 37 outside Corpus Christi.
But state Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa, D-McAllen, a member of his chamber’s transportation committee, said the state has done its part.
“(Premont) will be the last big hurdle we will have,” Hinojosa said. “Then we’ll just have to continue to push the federal government to designate it as an interstate after showing them the improvements the state has made along with the local communities investing their own money.”
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Jared Janes covers Hidalgo County government, Edinburg and legislative issues for The Monitor. He can be reached at (956) 683-4424.
