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Follow TURFFewer bridge crossings hurt county’s proposed tollway
By Jared Janes
Rio Grande Monitor
Sunday, December 23, 2012
Lower than expected revenue projections for Hidalgo County’s first toll road has the highway facing another hurdle before construction.
New traffic and revenue projections for the tollway connecting the county’s international bridges to the expressway came in about 60 percent lower than initial numbers, putting the Hidalgo County Regional Mobility Authority about $24 million short of the total financing package needed.
The decline in toll revenue projections was caused by fewer international bridge crossings, an expedited route along Anzalduas Highway and reluctance by cities to implement truck restrictions that would force them onto the toll road.
The authority’s engineers and consultants are developing ideas to bridge the financing gap by delaying construction of onramps at 23rd Street and taking other steps to cut the tollway’s cost. But board member Michael Cano said he questions whether the authority is “forcing a square peg into a round hole” by building a tollway that may not make financial sense yet.
“I understand that if push comes to shove, we can make enough changes to make it work,” Cano said at the authority’s December board meeting. “But if you take a step back and look at the big picture, is this the right time to do this project or should we look elsewhere (for a project)?”
The mobility authority has been developing plans for the southern tollway, aided by more than $100 million in state funds, as a first phase of an eventual Hidalgo County loop. The tollway would connect the Anzalduas and Donna international bridges as it runs south of Expressway 83.
The authority has planned to fund about $700 million in planned projects using a mixture of state contributions, federal funds, toll receipts and revenues from the county’s vehicle registration fees, but the lower than expected toll revenue projections could make financing the first project more challenging.
Since the last study was completed three years ago, toll revenue projections fell about 60 percent, said Shahram “Sam” Bohluli with C&M Associates, a Dallas-based firm that specializes in traffic and revenue studies.
Most of the drop in the projected toll revenues was caused by continued decline in passenger cars crossing the border from Mexico. The drop in border crossing traffic, prompted in part by border violence, is compounded since fewer cars on the roads means less congestion and less willingness for other drivers to pay for a toll road.
Another issue causing the decline in toll revenue projections are the completed improvements to Bryan Road that make it easier to get from the Anzalduas International Bridge to Expressway 83. Hidalgo County cities have also not expressed a willingness to implement lane restrictions on surface streets that would force trucks onto the tollway.
The bottom line: a $24 million shortfall for financing the first leg of the tollway. However, the mobility authority’s financial adviser told board members last week there is “more upside than downside” to the latest revenue projections.
The toll revenue projections, for example, could prove to be conservative if border violence declines, leading more Mexican nationals to take the trip into Hidalgo County. The passage of immigration reform could also allow illegal immigrants living in the Valley or elsewhere in Texas to take more frequent trips back to Mexico.
And another bright spot are the county’s vehicle registration fees, which have seen an annual 9 percent increase in revenues that suggests more people are driving the county’s roadways.
The authority’s board members will consider concrete recommendations in January on how to overcome the shortfall for construction, but mobility authority chairman Dennis Burleson said initial financing challenges are expected.
The southern tollway is expected to generate enough toll revenue to pay off its debt if the mobility authority can get it under construction.
“If we’re starting a (tollway) system, you’ve got to start the first step on the journey,” Burleson said. “You can’t build the second step until the first one.”
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Jared Janes covers Hidalgo County government, Edinburg and legislative issues for The Monitor. He can be reached at