Counties taking resolute stance on U.S. 281 project

EDINBURG — There is strength in numbers, especially when begging for money.

When Hidalgo County commissioners passed a resolution Tuesday urging the Texas Legislature or Congress to fund four improvements to U.S. 281, they weren't the only ones considering the resolution.

Commissioners in Brooks, Jim Wells and Live Oak counties and city councils in Edinburg, Mission and McAllen are also expected to pass similar resolutions this month.

With a federal economic stimulus package on the horizon and the state's new legislative session now under way in Austin, the resolutions ask for $276 million to fund four projects to expedite traffic and trade along the 281 corridor.

"Everyone is united," Hidalgo County Judge J.D. Salinas said in a telephone interview from Washington, D.C. "None of these projects are in Hidalgo County, but we all realize the collective benefit from it."

The Texas Department of Transportation submitted to Congress three of the four improvements - bypasses and overpasses through Falfurrias, Ben Bolt and George West - as "shovel-ready" projects for consideration in a stimulus package.

A U.S. House draft of the package - released last week - would send about $2.5 billion to TxDOT to make road and bridge improvements, said Mario Jorge, the agency's district engineer who oversees the Rio Grande Valley.

But the numbers could change considerably by mid-February, when President Barack Obama is expected to sign it into law.

Final plans, environmental work and right-of-way purchases are complete for the Falfurrias and Ben Bolt projects, Jorge said. Work could start immediately if $87.5 million is allocated to Falfurrias and $13 million to Ben Bolt.

TxDOT Executive Director Amadeo Saenz, Salinas and other officials from across Texas are slated to meet Monday with House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Jim Oberstar, D-Minn., about the state's high-priority projects.

The 281 improvements will be in discussion because of the highway's near-ready status, its role in evacuating the Valley during an emergency and the link it provides between the U.S. and Mexican economies.

The McAllen metro area is also the largest in the country without an interstate within 100 miles.

Brooks County Judge Raul Ramirez, whose county approved the resolution last week, said waiting on the four projects would be a mistake with rising construction costs.

In Falfurrias, the estimated cost for the five overpasses that are planned has gone up about $15 million since they were first proposed and then delayed because of a TxDOT budget shortfall.

"It almost has to move forward," Ramirez said. "You can't have this project sitting here any longer."

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Jared Janes covers Hidalgo County government and general assignments for The Monitor. He can be reached at (956) 683-4424.