Reprint from the Progress Times - April 18, 2008
©Progress Times 2008 - All Rights Reserved

Anzalduas Bridge Board seeks expedited truck crossing permit

 

Anzalduas Bridge Project Coordinator George Ramon said Wednesday that the Anzalduas International Bridge Board is trying to get the bridge permit amended to allow truck traffic sooner.

Ramon, who is also director of the McAllen-Hidalgo International Bridge, made the remarks as he spoke to the Mission Lions Club this week. He said the current Anzalduas Bridge permit specifically excludes commercial traffic until the Pharr bridge reaches 15,000 northbound commercial vehicles weekly, or the year 2015, whichever comes first.

Currently, Pharr is crossing about 10,000 northbound trucks per week. "So, they’re at about two-thirds of the way. But more importantly, they cannot handle much more. They are land-locked with Mexico. Their inspection facilities on the bridge itself cannot handle much more," he said.

"So what we’re trying to do is to get our permit amended to get commercial cargo sooner than the permit states," Ramon said. He hopes to win approval for implementing the FAST (Free and Secure Trade) program exclusively at Anzalduas. FAST is a U.S. Customs initiative to allow easier inspections and expedited flow of goods at the port of entry.

"We’re hoping to relieve the congestion at the Pharr bridge by putting the FAST program [at Anzalduas]. That’s our proposal right now. So far we have the Regional Mobility Authority (RMA) and the county— everybody’s on board except for the City of Pharr. They are looking at it strictly from a revenue loss perspective. I tell them it’s not about a loss of toll revenue; it’s about making this region more competitive," he said. The threat is not the neighbor; the threat is other ports of entry that are a lot more efficient, he added.

The ability to move goods and people through the port of entry more efficiently makes our region more conducive for trade and manufacturing to come to our area.

"That’s how we compete," Ramon said. We compete as a region, not as a single point of crossing….[Pharr is] having trouble with that, but we’re proceeding. I have every confidence that we will get our permit amended.

Ramon explained that the Anzalduas Crossing project is a regional project, not just for Mission or McAllen. It will have a regional impact much like the McAllen airport, the shopping centers and the hospitals are not for just one city, but for the region.

"Here we have another opportunity to improve the economic opportunity for the region," he said. "[The bridge] is good for the economy, and I think at the end of the day it will put more people on the payroll for the region."

Trade is what helped the country to become a great country; and border trade has helped this area to prosper—on both sides of the border. For example, in 2007 the U.S. had $320 billion in trade. Eighty percent of that came through Texas ports. Most of that came through South Texas ports, Ramon said.

The McAllen-Hidalgo bridge crosses 20,000 vehicles a day, 150 buses, 2,000 trucks and 15,000 pedestrians. Factor in 3.5 people per vehicle and that comes to 180,000 people coming across at just this port of entry at present.

"That makes us at Hidalgo the fourth busiest port in the entire country—including the Canadian border—as a single point of crossing," Ramon said.

The Hidalgo Bridge has a revenue stream of $13 million, and they are very close to being debt free. The present bridge nets nearly $11 million annually. Sixty-four percent of that goes to the City of McAllen general fund, and 36 percent goes to the City of Hidalgo. Hidalgo has no ownership but they do share in the net proceeds.

"That’s a lot of money for a small city," Ramon said. That’s what makes [McAllen’s] ad valorem taxes stay low. McAllen’s city tax rate is 42 cents, compared to the school district which is at $1.52 per $100 valuation.

Project on schedule

Ramon explained that the project is both on schedule and on budget. The bridge project is now 291 days into the contract with 391 days remaining, and is about 40 percent complete. There has been only one change order. That was for the unforeseen relocation of a utility.

Williams Brothers Construction was issued authorization to begin construction (on the U.S. side) on June 12, 2007. The project is to be completed in 682 calendar days.

Construction cost of the bridge itself is $28,493,523. However, related costs, including General Services Administration (GSA) facilities, bridge toll and inspection facilities, and the access roads north of the border station, bring the total costs to approximately $100 million for the U.S. side of the bridge.

Mexico’s budget for their half of the project is $69-$70 million. The contractor for Mexico is slightly ahead of their schedule.

"They have a very good crew out there and very good equipment. They are moving right along. When you have private capital involved, you’ve got to make sure that you get a return as soon as possible, So it behooves them to make sure that the project moves along as scheduled," Ramon said.