After a number of citizens expressed their opposition to a $179,000,000 tollway to be built from the B&M Bridge to a connection at Interstate 77/83 near the 77 Flea Market, the Brownsville Metropolitan Planning Organization chairman, Brownsville Mayor Tony Martinez called for a motion to be made on the action item.
County Commissioner Ernie Hernandez moved that the proposal be defeated. After Catalina Presas-Garcia was assured that a "yes" vote on the motion meant "no" to the proposal, the group voted 7-3 in favor of the motion to defeat the proposal.
Sofia Benefidez, one of the minority voting against the motion, asked to be recognized and proceed to lament the decision, wishing for more time to consider it. Martinez indicated the motion had passed.
Thus ends an almost epic struggle in the city and county over this issue. 5000 residents of West Brownsville signed a petition last year opposing the plan. Several optional usage plans for the old Georgia Pacific track location are in play, none of them funded.
The meeting was held in the Mary Yturria room at the Historic Brownsville Museum. Acoustics were so poor that almost no comments could be understood without a microphone.
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The vote was 8-3. The port of Brownsville rep and the city manager from Los Fresnos were no shows.Eddy Hernandez(PUB), Sofia Benavides and Mario Jorge from TxDot voted against west Brownsville
ReplyDeletehow are we going to pay for it with no toll revenue? city taxes?
ReplyDeleteOk, so do we get the money back wasted pursuing this stupid idea? Didn't think so!
ReplyDeleteEnough already with the whole RMA thing. They build roads that nobody wants to go places people already go with money that nobody has. They are a tremendous waste of resources and County people get far too many dollars out of the deal to be objective in calling it puro calabaza. Sophie is at present the worst. She was trying to desperately hold on to the flow of calabaza when even the worst at the trough already saw the writing on the wall. The people were not going to stand for this. They already knew they had to look elsewhere to steal.
ReplyDeleteThank you to the politicians who voted against the toll toad, but I can't shake the feeling they are still playing politics. Yes, you know who I'm talking about. All of you still the community much more.
ReplyDeleteMr. Barton, I am with the School of Public Health, we are putting together a training curriculum and we are making a video on how residents can come together and turn road ways in to hike and bike trails and we are using the West Brownsville Tollway as an example, and I saw three photos on your blog, and was wondering if we could use those pictures in our video, you can contact me at Julio.C.Olivo@uth.tmc.edu. Thank you!
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