TxDOT: "Whatever concerns the city has, we will look at, but that doesn’t mean we will back away from the project."
TxDOT stalls on toll roads
Under fire from San Juan, agency revamping transportation plans
James Osborne
The [McAllen] Monitor
Copyright 2005
SAN JUAN — Officials and citizens for months have railed against the proposed construction of a toll road through this city.
Now, Mayor San Juanita Sanchez believes they could be making some progress.
The mayor recounts a recent conversation with the district engineer of the Texas Department of Transportation, Mario Jorge, in which he said, "TxDOT’s not in the business of going where they’re not wanted."
"In the first talks, it was TxDOT’s policy not to do that," she said. "I want to see if that’s a policy they’ll actually follow, or if this is just lip service."
It could be just that.
Jorge said Friday he never meant to imply TxDOT had weakened its stance in any way. The agency, which will manage the toll road-project with the soon-to-be-created Hidalgo County Regional Mobility Authority, still sees San Juan as the best site for a road connecting the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge to Expressway 83.
"Whatever concerns the city has, we will look at, but that doesn’t mean we will back away from the project," Jorge said. "If they are strongly opposing the project, we have to work out the differences. We can’t just go in without listening to what they have to say."
But that process, in which TxDOT assesses both the social and environmental impact of a roadway before going to the Federal Highway Administration for final approval, is becoming longer. In May, Jorge said he expected land acquisition to begin within a year. Now, he says any projections are impossible.
Adding to the wait is a long list of potential changes to the project, spawned because of the city’s complaints. TxDOT engineers are now considering adding frontage roads and more on and off ramps, as well as reducing the size of the interchange connecting 83 to the toll road.
"Even within the existing route, things can be done to make it more attractive to the city," Jorge said. ‘We’re going to need to make some pretty big adjustments to the project."
Not that it will do much to quiet Sanchez, who has promised to do anything she can to stop the road, even saying she would lie in front of a bulldozer, if necessary. Her political currency strengthened significantly last month when Texas Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn — a vocal critic of toll roads in her quest to unseat Gov. Rick Perry with a win in May’s Republican primary — visited San Juan to lend support to the protests against the toll road.
"We not letting up, that’s for sure," the mayor said.
———
James Osborne covers PSJA and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4428.
The Monitor: www.themonitor.com
Under fire from San Juan, agency revamping transportation plans
James Osborne
The [McAllen] Monitor
Copyright 2005
SAN JUAN — Officials and citizens for months have railed against the proposed construction of a toll road through this city.
Now, Mayor San Juanita Sanchez believes they could be making some progress.
The mayor recounts a recent conversation with the district engineer of the Texas Department of Transportation, Mario Jorge, in which he said, "TxDOT’s not in the business of going where they’re not wanted."
"In the first talks, it was TxDOT’s policy not to do that," she said. "I want to see if that’s a policy they’ll actually follow, or if this is just lip service."
It could be just that.
Jorge said Friday he never meant to imply TxDOT had weakened its stance in any way. The agency, which will manage the toll road-project with the soon-to-be-created Hidalgo County Regional Mobility Authority, still sees San Juan as the best site for a road connecting the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge to Expressway 83.
"Whatever concerns the city has, we will look at, but that doesn’t mean we will back away from the project," Jorge said. "If they are strongly opposing the project, we have to work out the differences. We can’t just go in without listening to what they have to say."
But that process, in which TxDOT assesses both the social and environmental impact of a roadway before going to the Federal Highway Administration for final approval, is becoming longer. In May, Jorge said he expected land acquisition to begin within a year. Now, he says any projections are impossible.
Adding to the wait is a long list of potential changes to the project, spawned because of the city’s complaints. TxDOT engineers are now considering adding frontage roads and more on and off ramps, as well as reducing the size of the interchange connecting 83 to the toll road.
"Even within the existing route, things can be done to make it more attractive to the city," Jorge said. ‘We’re going to need to make some pretty big adjustments to the project."
Not that it will do much to quiet Sanchez, who has promised to do anything she can to stop the road, even saying she would lie in front of a bulldozer, if necessary. Her political currency strengthened significantly last month when Texas Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn — a vocal critic of toll roads in her quest to unseat Gov. Rick Perry with a win in May’s Republican primary — visited San Juan to lend support to the protests against the toll road.
"We not letting up, that’s for sure," the mayor said.
———
James Osborne covers PSJA and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4428.
The Monitor:
posted by Porkus Maximus Tex: at Sunday, August 14, 2005
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