County moves make new international rail bridge happen

Even in the world of international commerce, there's a chance for county government to make an impact.

As the opening date for a new rail bridge between Texas and Mexico approaches, the first such new bridge in more than 100 years, Cameron County's work in securing land and funding for the redirected train tracks is being credited as bringing the plans to fruition.

Cameron County will see major public safety benefits as a result. The new rail line will eliminate 14 railroad crossings through the middle of downtown Brownsville, one of the main reasons the county had ranked eighth out of 254 in the Lone Star State for traffic deaths involving trains. The tracks will shift out of town into a rural area west of town.

The new tracks will also stop bisecting the town when trains were stopped waiting to cross the border. That had caused long blockages of the 14 intersections, separating parts of town on either side.

County Judge Pete Sepulveda has been working on the project for 15 years, mostly as county administrator, a role he left just a month ago. Over that time, he has contributed to construction of four automobile bridges over the Rio Grande.

"There were a lot of doubts about getting this done, but politi cal leaders were committed to this, even when different people were elected," he said. "No matter who was in charge, they listened to the staff recommendations, and that was key to making this happen."

He added that one jurisdiction turning its back on the plans would have buried it at any point of the 15-year timeline.

Much like a locomotive gaining momentum from a full stop, the project picked up speed in 2009 when the environmental study came back, indicating the project ready to go.

"That was the hardest part because it was the only thing we couldn't control," Sepulveda said.

Funding was a challenge, too. Because the bridge would not have toll revenue, the costs would not be offset, stretching the costs higher. The Texas Tribune reported that negotiations between local leaders and the Department of Homeland Security over costs of moving equipment slowed the project down.

Sepulveda said the county's investment will range from $3 $4 million out of the U.S.'s $40 million total investment, most of which came from a variety of federal agen cies (Mexico is paying roughly $60 million). Sepulveda said the county has not calculated the cost of the time its staff spent on the project.

"We made our staff available to help anyone who was taking this project forward," he said. "Over 15 years, that's added up."

Once the money was secured, though, the rest of the project worked smoothly, and left the county with prime land in the middle of Brownsville.

"We were lucky we found a corridor that wasn't being used," Sepulveda said of the new tracks' path. "It was about 20 parcels. Now, where the old tracks are, we'll have eight miles of right of way to de velop a new transportation corridor through the city. We could add bike trails, parks, all kinds of things."