TxDOT: Project to tie 77, 83 to I-37

RAYMONDVILLE — State officials Monday unveiled a project to build a series of overpasses from Raymondville to Kingsville that’s the last step to the development of an interstate highway system.

There’s no money available yet and state officials don’t know when funds will be available, but they are looking ahead to a time when the Valley could have an interstate highway.

“The final step is to bring this to interstate standards,” said John Mack, a project manager with an Austin engineering firm.

The project will tie Expressways 77 and 83 to Interstate 37 in Corpus Christi, he said.

Before a room of local leaders, residents and land owners, Texas Department of Transportation officials held the first public meeting into the 100-mile project that will cost “hundreds of millions of dollars,” Mack said.

State officials will hold a public meeting on the project Wednesday in Riviera, and in Sarita on March 11.

State officials said they will review residents’ input before returning this summer with project details, Mack said.

The project will build a series of $7-million overpasses about five miles apart from Raymondville to Rivera, Mack said.

The network of entrance and exit ramps will replace open-access points that run from ranch gates onto the highway along the 100-mile stretch, Mack said.

“This is inherently an unsafe condition,” he said.

At Rivera and Driscoll, officials plan to build toll roads to bypass the small cities, Mack said, adding about $1 in tolls could get drivers across the roadways.

The first toll roads in South Texas will help offset project costs, he said.

State officials will conduct a $7 million environmental study before launching the as yet unfunded project, Mack said.

Officials haven’t put a timeline on the project, he said.

Soaring demand for oil, steel and cement have boosted highway construction costs, said Mario Jorge, a state district engineer.

“With so little money for highway construction right now, we’re in a crisis,” Jorge said. “Highway construction (cost) has increased dramatically the last couple of years.”

“It’s a big step,” Amy Rodriguez, TxDOT spokeswoman, said. “There’s (companies) that may not come to the Valley because we don’t have an interstate.”