Regional Mobility Authority Has Money Burning A Hole in Their Pocket

When grandparents send money on your birthday, your mind starts to race. That money is as good as gone. It burned a proverbial hole in your pocket, but did you spend it wisely? The Cameron County Regional Mobility Authority in tandem with the Brownsville Metropolitan Planning Organization is facing a similar challenge. It has tacit approval for a huge project in West Brownsville, with, at first glance, not much coming out of local pockets and with only a few provisos and obstacles to negotiate.

The West Rail Toll Road has an estimated cost of $179,000,000. $120,000,000 of that is supposed to come from toll revenue bonds, that from companies that will front the money in exchange for toll revenue. I personally would not make that bet. $31,000,000 federal money, $15,000,000 from vehicle registration fees, $10,000,000 more federal money to "coordinate" border matters and ONLY $4,000,000 local money. You can see why politicos would be salivating regardless of the merits of the project. Of course, "toll money" is not magic money. It comes from citizens as does vehicle registration money. So, you and I kick in $135,000,000 by using our cars and using the road in theory.

Juan Montoya of the El Rrun Rrun blog, refers to a statement by Linda Force, an anti-toll road activist, in his latest blog article:

The toll road would bypass Brownsville hotels, restaurants and retail stores, especially those along the 77/83 corridor. Travelers to and from Mexico would simply bypass Brownsville, spending their money in Harlingen. Who profits from this undertaking? The giant Kansas-based engineering firm of HNTB is the only one that stands to win in this game and is pushing hard to make the Brownsville toll road happen. The company and its executives have given more than $500,000 to the Republican Governors Association and Governor Rick Perry's campaigns as well as hiring two Perry cronies as lobbyists.

The company Ms. Force refers to is Howard, Needles, Tammen & Bergendoff, founded in 1914 with its original specialty movable bridges. In 1975 it merged with another company to concentrate also on sports stadiums. Its most notable project is the "High Five Interchange" pictured on the left in Dallas. That exchange was 2006 "Public Works Project of the Year" noted for its "massive size, innovative design, complexity and rapidity of construction."

Montoya also quotes in his article from the Austin American article written by Brenda Bell:

"The report by the regional inspector general for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development said the Texas Department of Rural Affairs also acted improperly last year when it more than doubled the size of HNTB's contract from $69 million to $144 million and expanded the scope of its work.
Auditors said the state did not adequately monitor the firm and billings that contained "inflated" and "unreasonable" labor costs.

To make a long story short, the federal government wants $9,000,000 of their money back because of the mismanagement by Texas of projects performed by HNTB, the firm prepared to build the West Rail Tollway. If history repeats itself, the West Brownsville project could cost double the projected 179 million.

So far, we've talked about funding, but not addressed the practicality of the project. The rail part of the project has already started, that is to relocate approximately 8 miles of railroad track from the downtown Matamoros and Brownsville to an area on the outskirts of both cities. No tracks will be removed, of course, until new track has been laid.

Laura Martinez stated as much in the Brownsville Herald:

"The railroad falls under Cameron County’s West Rail Relocation project, which will move the rail line to the city’s outskirts rather than having it flow through town. This project is expected to take at least until the end of year.

David Garcia, deputy county administrator for Cameron County, said officials have to wait until the new relocation rail is completed before any work on removing the old railroad tracks can begin.

Some are hoping the old tracks will not be removed but stay in place for a light rail passenger service into Brownsville. But, that is not the plan. The proposal is to build an 8 mile, limited access toll road from the B & M Bridge to near the Highway 77 Flea Market.

This is the project that many West Brownsville residents seem to oppose. The proponents originally said that projected commercial and passenger traffic in future years called for the construction of the limited access road. Since those original statements, its been determined that the B & M Bridge is unsuitable for heavy truck traffic. Additionally, a bridge is planned in the future at the Flor de Mayo site at the end of Alton Gloor that would siphon off potential traffic from the old B & M. Residents in West Brownsville, including my 40 year old son, have indicated no desire to pay a toll to drive to the 77 Flea Market or the Sports Park.

Mayor Tony Martinez expressed his opposition back in December:

“Nobody wants that toll road,” Martinez said. “We don’t want it. We don’t need it. I’m sure that (the CCRMA) is well intentioned. The problem is, some of these ideas of progress, they fail to see how it really affects the community. Quite frankly, West Brownsville needs to be restored. To me, it’s a travesty not to preserve it.”

Another proposal is simply to build a non-toll highway on the area of the old tracks or to turn those tracks into a bike or hiking trail.

The Brownsville Metropolitan Planning Organization will meet on March 14 and take another stab at deciding whether to drop the project. The vote is one of several agenda items for the meeting, taking place at 10 a.m. at the Mary Yturria Education Center at the Historic Brownsville Museum, 641 E. Madison St. Public comments are welcome.