SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, RGV – The incoming mayor of South Padre Island has praised RGV leaders for setting up a regional metropolitan planning organization, pointing out that this could hasten the arrival of a second causeway to his city.
In his first major interview since winning the SPI mayoral runoff election, Patrick McNulty said he is looking forward to millions of additional dollars becoming available for the second causeway project.
Tens of hundreds of millions of additional transportation dollars are likely to come to the Valley now that the Rio Grande Valley Metropolitan Planning Organization Transportation Policy Board has been formed.
A second causeway for SPI is deemed a major regional project because it would include the Outer Parkway connector from the causeway to Harlingen and the expansion of FM 1925 from Harlingen to Monte Cristo Road in Edinburg.
“I think it is great that Cameron and Hidalgo counties and all the municipal entities have agreed to work together to form the one MPO,” McNulty told the Rio Grande Guardian.
“I think it is an excellent opportunity to grow our transportation infrastructure substantially quicker. There is no doubt we have been held back in the past. I look forward to South Padre Island having an opportunity to join the MPO, along with the other tri-cities.
The tri-cities McNulty was referring to are South Padre Island, Laguna Vista and Port Isabel.
“The new MPO is going to give us an excellent opportunity to push for a second causeway for South Padre Island. The second causeway will be desperately needed, if it is not already, as our tourism opportunities continue to grow. We have to focus on our tourism and let that sector grow.”
Asked if he was aware that the Valley is set to secure far more transportation dollars as a result of the merger of Hidalgo County MPO, Brownsville MPO, and Harlingen-San Benito MPO, McNulty answered affirmatively.
“Mayor (Dennis) Stahl has kept us informed. He has played a very active role in the background, encouraging the regional MPO to be created. I know Harlingen has been working on it for a long time. This has been a long time in the making and it is great that the municipalities and the counties have come together for the benefit of the whole Rio Grande Valley. The MPO will be the catalyst for incredible economic opportunities.”
Asked if he was aware that a second causeway to SPI was being touted as one of the new MPO’s top regional projects, McNulty also answered affirmatively.
McNulty handily won the SPI mayoral runoff election on Saturday.
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I am not against the new causeway, but at a price of $1 billion, it will be like the Brownsville Sports Park of projects, sucking money away from all of the other needed improvements on our side of the valley. It will not benefit Brownsville in any way, so it should not dominate our finances. If anything it is a Hidalgo County project, since it is supposed to make getting to the island easier from the upper valley. For now, someone needs to come up with a plan for about three overpasses in Port Isabel, which will allow all of the Island traffic to bypass P.I. without stopping, thereby solving the short term problem for less than a 10th of the cost. It is ridiculous that Port Isabel which is only about a mile across is allowed to impede such a high volume of traffic. It is more ridiculous that the powers that be (land speculators) want to spend $1B to fix that tiny problem.
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