EAST LOOP PROJECT, MPO MERGER GAINING MOMENTUM

Back in 1993 Bill Clinton was set to take office as the 42nd president of the United States, Whoomp!(There It Is) was number 2 on the Billboard charts and the Cameron County Commission approved the East Loop Road to alleviate the enormous 18 wheeler congestion on International Blvd. and the South Padre Island Highway.

"Politics" is what has put the project on hold for the last 26 years according to MPO Deputy Director Alfonso Vallejo, but traffic seems to be moving again, as the project regains momentum.

Just today, Mayor Tony Martinez, who also chairs the Brownsville MPO, strongly suggested City Manager Noel Bernal sit down immediately with Pete Sepulveda, Director of the Cameron County Regional Mobility Authority, to iron out the wrinkles for the plan.

Although financing the project is complex, the timing for the $60 million project may be just right, as the Brownsville MPO, normally allotted about $20 million per year, just carried over $19.3 million NOT SPENT on anything from the last fiscal year, leaving them about $40 million to play with for their end of the East Loop, along with other pending projects.

As for the proposed merger of the three RGV MPOs(Brownsville, Harlingen and Hidalgo County), Martinez reports "we're 99% there," with only "some issues in Harlingen, San Benito and Cameron County" to be resolved.

Brownsville Metro Assistant Director Robert J. Garza reported that, as a result of the $10 million TIGER Grant, or Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery, the city had ordered 5 new hybrid buses, would be able to construct 43 new bus stops while doing extensive work on the bus garage.