Anzalduas Bridge Opens

By Edwina P. Garza

MISSION — The Anzalduas International Bridge – what’s being called the port of the future – opened for business Tuesday morning with almost 2,000 vehicles coming through on the first day.

George Ramon, the bridge director said 1,580 vehicles passed through the southbound portion of the bridge on Tuesday.

Days prior to the opening, crews worked to complete details of the construction that began in 2007.

Construction on roads to the bridge are still being worked on, said Texas Department of Transportation spokesperson Amy Rodriguez. Two overpasses, including the one at Farm-to-Market Road 1016, are still under construction, and could be completed by February. Until those are done, Rodriguez said traffic will cross on the frontage roads. The best way to access the bridge is through Bryan Road, south of the expressway, which merges into Anzalduas Highway connecting the bridge.

On Monday, officials said they arranged for a soft opening this week to take advantage of holiday travelers. The official inauguration is set for January 2010.

For now, the bridge will operate daily, handling only noncommercial traffic, from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.

“The bridge increases our capacity for cross border trade and traveling to and from Mexico,” said Carlos I. Garza, the chairman of the bridge’s board. “An increase in cross border activity will improve the economies on both sides of the border.”

Customs and Border Protection officials said they wanted to encourage people to use the Anzalduas Bridge to elevate traffic and congestion on the Pharr and Hidalgo bridges.

Former Hidalgo County Judge J.D. Salinas III, now a regional officer with the U.S. General Service Administration, said this is the first bridge to open here in 10 years.

“This has been a long time coming,” Salinas said.

Garza boasted that the bridge offers state-of-the-art technology that no other bridge in the region has.

“It is the port of the future,” he said.

The $43 million bridge features four entrance lanes with a SENTRI Lane on the United States side. The bridge span is over three miles with four lanes and a pedestrian walkway.

Officials credited the “tremendous partnership” to getting the Anzalduas Bridge to become a reality.

“We have been working really hard on this project for the last 12 years along with McAllen, Hidalgo and Granjeno,” said Mayor Norberto “Beto” Salinas. “This is going to be very good for our communities, including Mexico. We built this bridge that will strengthen our ties with our neighbors to the South as well as a stronger economic future for our area.”

As the bridge is expected to cut traveling time to Monterrey for tourists, and the manufacturing plants in Mexico for thousands of employees, CBP Port Director of Pharr/Hidalgo Hector Mancha said he expects to see about 4,000 vehicles travel through Anzalduas on a daily basis as the bridge becomes more well known.

“The opening of the Anzalduas International Bridge will get us closer to being the destination of choice for international business development and it will make it easier for Mexican tourists to cross more efficiently,” said McAllen Mayor Richard Cortez. “It is a complement to the many assets we are developing to make our region the choice to many who are seeking quality of life.”

Mission lights winter wonderland

MISSION — More than 100 community members visited Mission’s own Winter Wonderland as city officials gathered to light the Leo Peña Plazita where children visited with Santa Claus and waited for a chance to win gifts on behalf of city sponsors.

Members of the Facilities Maintenance Department worked on setting up the Christmas lights and decorations in the park off of Conway Avenue a few weeks ago.

Seven-year-old Jessica Reyes said last week’s event was her first chance to speak with Santa Claus. As she stood in line, she said she wanted to tell him how good she’d been all year long, so she could receive a doll she’d been eyeing for months.

Following the official lighting of the Christmas decorations by Mayor Norberto “Beto” Salinas, the community was treated to performances by the Mission Veterans High School Mariachi, folkloric dancers from the Mission Parks and Recreation and McAllen Memorial folkloric dancers.

Families sat huddled together under blankets as they watched El Valle Cloggers perform on stage to popular Christmas tunes.

Along with food vendors, and Santa Claus, children also had a chance to win bicycles or wrapped gifts. The gifts and bikes were purchased with money from sponsors, which included the city.

More than a dozen bikes were raffled off.

Mission family discovers genetic cancer

MISSION — After two of her sisters and a cousin were diagnosed with breast cancer, Mission resident Rosie Hickle began putting together the pieces to a puzzle that has not only stumped her family, but also provided a wealth of knowledge.

Could their cancer be hereditary?

In 1998, when Hickle’s sister Lulu Garza of Laredo was diagnosed with breast cancer, and ultimately had both her breasts removed and reconstructed, a doctor suggested the family get tested to determine if they carried the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene for cancer.

For Garza, when her blood work came back positive and she was told she had a cancer gene, it confirmed what she already knew.

“At that point I was on a mission,” Garza said. “I didn’t want my mother to have to hear about another child having breast cancer.”

In Hickle’s case, the decision to take the test left her hesitant. Since she was 30, she had been regularly getting mammograms, but in 2004, at her sister’s suggestion, she was tested and discovered she was positive for cancer. She had an 87 percent chance at getting cancer before she turned 70.

Hickle began telling her doctors and radiologist, to ensure that everyone was on the lookout for cancer in her breasts, and within six months, medical officials found a small two-millimeter lump in her breast. It was almost unheard of for radiologists to find something so small and so early, Hickle said.

She had a double mastectomy with reconstructive surgery at the age of 44. Knowing she also had a risk for ovarian cancer, Hickle also had a hysterectomy.

“They probably would not have caught my cancer that early without this test,” Hickle said.

Garza said her sister benefited from discovering her chances for cancer early to help her guide her medical treatment, and possibly her future.

“It’s amazing how far medicine has gone,” Garza said. “This is opening people’s eyes that we can try and control what happens to us.”

People hear the word “cancer” and automatically think they’re going to die, Garza said. But if families talk to one another and discuss their family medical history, they can almost predict what illnesses they may face.

“It’s important to find out things like this and ask these questions now at Christmas when you’re getting together with your family, and not to find out at someone’s funeral,” Garza said.

Hickle said six of eight siblings and their mother tested positive for the cancer gene. After the siblings started getting tested, Garza said many of their children have been tested, also. Garza said her son and daughter also have the cancer gene.

“We’ve always been very open about it so it made it easier to be OK,” Garza said of her cancer experience.

Likewise, Hickle’s 11-year-old daughter knows about the cancer gene, and the illness is something the family says they talk about without fear.

“You really need to be your own advocate,” Hickle said.

Most health insurance companies cover the test, and if a patient tests positive for the gene, their insurance cannot be impacted.

The Federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 protects patient privacy and prohibits health care insurance discrimination based on genetic information. The test, however, cannot tell a patient if they have cancer.

At a recent Mother’s Day celebration, Hickle and her sisters made information packets that told Hickle’s story and the family’s discovery of the cancer gene. Since then, many relatives have gone on to get tested.

“It’s important for people to take ownership of their health and have conversations with siblings and parents so when they go to the doctor they are armed with information,” Hickle said. “To me, it was a blessing to know I had the cancer gene.”

Click for PDF of Zoning

Alton holds second annexation reading

By Kathy Olivarez

ALTON — Through a tool used in municipalities across the Rio Grande Valley, traditionally to boost economic development while making vital city improvements, Alton officials hope to bring residents infrastructure upgrades like soccer fields, widened roads and a new water tank, among other things over the next 25 years.

The city council recently approved the development of the Tax Reinvestment Increment Zone, commonly called a TIRZ. Lance Elliot with the TIF Services of South Texas, which represents most of the cities in the Valley developing TIRZ’s, said large areas of Alton are undeveloped or need to be redeveloped because of inadequate infrastructure. The costs associated with redevelopment are so high that the city cannot afford to do these improvements without additional funding sources.

Elliott explained the TIRZ could generate over $20 million in revenues including $10.9 million from the city and $9.5 million from the county over the 25-year period. This money can only be spent in the TIRZ zone Elliott said the cost of improvements would be over $43 million. Because of this, the city will have to seek additional funding through grants and loans for the city.

Use of the TIRZ will create employment opportunities and reduce commuting time for residents. It will help balance population growth in Hidalgo County. It will create a more efficient use of existing city and county services and infrastructure. It will improve the structural imbalances in the Alton economy and housing market, officials said.

Elliott said the TIRZ would provide funding for necessary public improvements needed for development and redevelopment in the city. The existing agricultural use for land would be replaced with high-value commercial or industrial development of single and multi-family residential uses.

Proposed improvements outlined by Elliott include fire flow protection for the city, which is currently only available in small areas surrounding Main Street and Alton Boulevard. The city has a 550,000-gallon water storage facility and a limited number of fire hydrants and water lines. The city gets water from the Sharyland Municipal Water Supply Corporation, which has the ability to meet the fire flow needs of the city. A 750,000-gallon storage tank needs to be constructed in the northeast quadrant of the city to serve the eastern side of the city. Additional water lines and fire hydrants on a looped system are needed to provide adequate fire flow to the city. The cost for this is over $8 million.

Elliott said that when existing city streets are reconstructed, new larger sewer and water lines are needed to provide adequate service for new locations. Although the Texas Department of Transportation will be responsible for the costs associated with road upgrades, the relocation and replacement of water and sewer lines will be a city expense, which could cost around $3.5 million.

Before streets can be widened for future commercial development, the city will have to purchase additional right-of-way from contiguous landowners. There are also many streets in Alton that do not connect to other streets. Right-of-way will need to be purchased to develop connecting streets in the city.

Elliott said that the rights-of-ways of all existing streets in the city are included within the boundaries of the TIRZ zone so that TIRZ funds can be used to reconstruct streets that can no longer be repaired. Right-of-way acquisition would be $750,000 and street reconstruction would be $2.5 million.

Because of unplanned past development, many of the current drainage systems are inadequate to carry increased runoff, thus creating flooding situations. The plan that is developed must also include county land that will eventually become part of the city. The proposed drainage plan could cost $35 million.

As growth continues, new municipal facilities will be needed. Currently a new fire station is needed to meet the city’s needs for fire protection. Architects for this project were selected during a council meeting recently.

The police department keeps records of criminal activity within the city and reports show criminal activity is highest in areas where street lighting is the poorest. New lighting needs to be installed.

A long-range goal for the city is a municipal library at the municipal complex at Alton Boulevard and Dawson Avenue.

Quality of life is also a consideration to existing parks such as new soccer fields and creation of a hike and bicycle trail that will connect the caliche pits within the city will be created as part of an overall drainage system improvement.

Elliott told the council the city would not have the ability to offer tax abatements as an incentive for economic development in the city. Instead TIRZ funds would be used to expand the tax base around new development. TIRZ incentives would be created to encourage landowners to convert vacant street frontages into valuable commercial properties.

In order to get the development needed by the city the TIRZ funds would be used to pay for needed improvements. Elliott said that all existing tax revenue would go to the taxing agencies. The city would continue to collect the tax revenues that it currently gets and the county would also receive the taxes it currently gets. But any new taxes generated by development would go into the TIRZ. For example, if a landowner were currently paying taxes on a piece of land, those taxes would be collected by the city and county just as they currently are. But if a commercial, industrial or residential building is placed on that piece of property, the additional taxes generated by that construction would go into the TIRZ for the improvements needed by the city. No new taxes are created. Only revenues from development go into the TIRZ.

Elliott emphasized that approval of the TIRZ did not mean the city would start planning for a library at the next council meeting or that the hike and bike trail or drainage system using the caliche pits would be ready by 2011. The plan is for the next 25 years in Alton and will depend on the build-out of the vacant land in the plan being turned into commercial, industrial and residential properties contributing additional taxes to the city.

Newspaper holiday schedule

The Progress Times offices will be closed Dec. 24 after 12 p.m. and all day Dec. 25 for Christmas. Office hours on New Year’s Eve, Dec. 31 will be 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and the newspaper office will be closed on New Year’s Day, Jan. 1.

There will be no Progress Times published for the week of Dec. 25. The following week, the newspaper will be delivered a day early, on Thursday, Dec. 31.

The staff at the Progress Times and Winter Texan Times extend our warmest Christmas greetings to all our readers and advertisers.

Valley Bowl carjackers arrested

MISSION — The two men involved in a carjacking in downtown McAllen were involved in a similar robbery here at Valley Bowl last weekend, police said.

The two men, Jaime Longoria, 26, and Javier Longoria, 24, were both charged this week with aggravated robbery. Police said the two are not brothers.

On Sunday, shortly before 11 p.m., the two men carjacked a brown Suburban outside Valley Bowl along U.S. Business 83 with a 9mm handgun, said Mission police spokesman Sgt. Jody Tittle.

In the suburban, the two headed northbound on Shary Road where Palmhurst police entered the pursuit until they lost sight of the truck as it zoomed to Glasscock Road, Tittle said.

Authorities later found the truck abandoned near Glasscock and 7 Mile Line, he added. One of the suspects was found hiding in brush with the weapon nearby, Tittle said. The other was found in McAllen.

The two men were also involved in an aggravated robbery in McAllen, Tittle said.

Police said they suspect the men were motivated by drug use to take the vehicles at gunpoint. So far in their investigation, police said there are indications the two men were on drugs at the time of the robbery.

TxDOT Advisory

Construction & Maintenance Work

FM 506 New

TxDOT completed work on FM 506 from Tio Cano to Coco Roads in Cameron County on December 21st, a month ahead of schedule. The roadway is open to traffic.

FM 1017 New

Traffic will be switched to left side of roadway to newly constructed lane on Monday, December 28th. Crews will begin work on right side lane of FM 1017 between Starr and Jim Hogg County.

"I" Road

TxDOT closed "I" Road from Sevilla Road north to US 281 in Edinburg thru Sunday, February 28, 2010. Foremost Paving is reconstructing the bridge over the Main Drain Drainage Canal.

FM 2061 (McColl Rd)

Construction work on FM 2061(McColl Road) from Nolana to Trenton Roads in the McAllen/Edinburg has reduced McColl southbound lanes to one lane thru February 2010. Foremost Paving is reconstructing the southbound outside lane from Nolana to Trenton. Expect delays within project area.

FM 491

TxDOT through Rhyner Construction merged traffic to one lane in each direction on FM 491 from Business 83 south to just north of the Floodway in Mercedes thru May 2010. Crews are performing road and drainage improvements.

Motorists are advised to observe and obey all posted warning, construction, detour and speed limit signs.

Archives | Privacy Policy | About Us | Contact Us | Advertise