By Jim Moore
Published: 03-17-08
Allows Work on Hidalgo County Loop project for local Regional Mobility Authority
On Thursday February 28 the Hidalgo County Regional Mobility Authority (HCRMA) approved an agreement with Hidalgo County Road Builders (HCRB) to allow the Hidalgo Loop Project to take one more step forward to reality.
HCRB a subsidiary of Pate Transportation Partners (PTP) is the private sector road developer selected by the HCRMA in August to develop the loop project. HCRMA Board Chairman Dennis Burleson of Mission said terms were reached with Hidalgo County Road Builders for pre-construction services of $46.3 million.
The local RMA identified the Hidalgo County Loop as it top priority project because of its importance to the economic growth of the entire county. Hidalgo County is the sixth largest in Texas and one of the fastest-growing metropolitan areas in the U.S. The loop will be designed to move truck traffic quickly from the border and contribute to the safety of the urban core by helping relocate heavy truck traffic to the county’s perimeter.
“Our seven-member RMA board agreed with the ‘local control’ model the Road Builders brought to us” said Burleson who negotiated the agreement for HCRMA “In addition to securing services and prices we are also using the Tax Reinvestment Zone proposed by HCRB as a central source of funding. We will have control of our transportation destiny without having to depend on the state.”
The agreement is a contract to provide pre-construction services in preparation for the building of major portions of the Hidalgo County Loop. Services included in the agreement include advance planning environmental clearance preliminary and final design right-of-way acquisition services.
The leadership of Hidalgo County should get full credit for uniting on behalf of this type of new and innovative program” said Gerry Pate Managing General Partner of HCRB.
“New ideas have to be used to help communities across Texas establish local funding solutions because the state has made it clear it just doesn’t have the money any more Pate said. We’ve come up with an approach that gives local governments more control in the building and funding process and also allows them to retain ownership of whatever road is constructed.”
“Pate Transportation Partners has done similar types of big road projects with counties elsewhere in the state but this is the first of these agreements with a regional mobility authority” added Burleson. “And the quality of the local partners that PTP recruited to create Hidalgo County Road Builders also impressed our board. Local civil engineers L&G Engineering and J.E. Sáenz and Associates are high-quality engineering firms and we are fortunate to have them in Hidalgo County.”
HCRB is contracted to complete the pre-construction services within 18 months and deliver to the RMA board a guaranteed maximum price for the completion including construction of a major portion of the loop project by 2013. The agreement is expected to be executed within the next week.
Jim Moore is Director of Media Relations for Prevailing Trends Inc. based in Austin. For more on this and related stories please log on to www.EdinburgPolitics.com
