international bridge trade corridor

WESLACO, Texas - State Rep. Terry Canales recently brought good news to the Rio Grande Valley Metropolitan Planning Organization.

At an RGVMPO board meeting, the chairman of the House Committee on Transportation spoke about a large infusion of funds for the eagerly-awaited International Bridge Trade Corridor (IBTC), a project that will ensure a safer route for trucks going to and from the Pharr International Bridge and the Donna International Bridge.

“It was at the forefront of my legislative agenda to secure that funding, especially with a budget surplus of over $30 billion,” Canales said, in an exclusive interview with the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service. 

Canales said he fought to secure $200 million for the IBTC project. He ended up with $150 million, for which the Hidalgo County Regional Mobility Authority is grateful. He said he won support in the legislature by stressing that developing the IBTC was good for border security.

“Earlier this week we got the news that the Governor was making an announcement that they were going to pull $150 million out of the discretionary funding, which would bring us this go round in the UTP (Unified Transportation Plan) to almost $3.6 billion. When you look at that in the grand scheme of things, the Valley in its entirety used to get about $600 million. We are over 500 percent from $600 million to 3.6 billion. It's an incredible leap in funding.”

Canales said one of the reasons the Valley is now getting more transportation dollars was the creation of a unified MPO. Previously there were three, Hidalgo County, Brownsville, and Harlingen-San Benito.

“We are now the fifth largest MPO. We are fifth in line for funding. It creates a funding stream like we've never seen.”

Editor's Note: To read the full story go to the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service website. 

To read the new stories and watch the news videos of the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service go to www.riograndeguardian.com.