Business leaders: Upgrades to U.S. 281 key to economic interests

Minutes matter to Clay Huston's truck drivers.

Huston, the owner of Alamo-based trucking company DriveLine International Inc., offers quick calculations on what delays along U.S. 281 mean for the 50 trucks he has that travel the route on a regular basis.

The delays - caused by bottlenecks in Falfurrias, Ben Bolt, George West and Premont - easily tack on at least 45 minutes to each driver's route, Huston said, costing his drivers a few days' worth of wages each year.

"There's nothing that my drivers love than more than to get out of the (Rio Grande) Valley, get on the interstates and be able to put the truck on cruise control and sit back and make some miles," Huston said. "That's what they get paid by."

Delays could become shorter once projects to remove some of the bottlenecks are complete - improvements Huston said have been needed since the maquila industry blossomed 15 years ago.

The Texas Department of Transportation committed last month to spend $114 million to remove bottlenecks in Falfurrias, George West and Ben Bolt by adding overpasses and bypasses.

Transportation officials say the work, funded partly by the federal economic stimulus package, should bring those sections of U.S. 281 up to interstate-quality standards, leaving only work in Premont.

Deidre Delisi, chairwoman of the Texas Transportation Commission, has committed to fund the Premont work - expected to cost between $40 million and $100 million - once it is out of the planning stage.

The commitment from the state to improve the major artery out of South Texas ended years of intense lobbying by political and business leaders along the U.S. 281 corridor who argued the lack of an interstate-quality highway leaving the Valley was deterring economic development efforts in the region.

Though county residents won't see a direct benefit unless they frequently travel the route, officials say they will reap indirect benefits - from higher wages to better job prospects - simply by better connecting the county to the rest of the world.

SEAMLESS TRAVEL

Work for the first of the U.S. 281 projects, an $87.5 million plan to construct five overpasses through Falfurrias, is expected to be bid out by May.

The shovel-ready project has been stalled for years by state funding shortfalls that were reversed when almost $2 billion in federal stimulus package funds were dedicated for transportation projects, said Mario Jorge, the TxDOT district engineer who oversees the Rio Grande Valley.

Plans to construct a $13 million overpass near a Ben Bolt school district and $20 million to create a railroad overpass in George West were also included in the funding. Both of those projects are expected to go out for bid by June.

A $104 million relief route around Premont and $50 million direct connectors onto Interstate 37 in George West were not funded, but Jorge said that work is still planned in the future, to upgrade U.S. 281 to interstate standards.

None of the U.S. 281 projects are in Hidalgo County, a strange factor for the county's political leaders who lobbied for the improvements even though they are miles away.

But Hidalgo County Judge J.D. Salinas, who formed a coalition of business and political leaders two years ago in support of the work, said the indirect benefits to county residents have always been a factor.

The improvements can expand job opportunities, raise wages and offer other benefits from resulting economic development, he said. Economic development requires good infrastructure - an area where the county has lagged behind for years - but with the improvements, some of that is changing.

By the end of the year, nine land ports of entry will feed traffic to U.S. 281, already the state's third-busiest North American Free Trade Agreement corridor, Salinas said. TxDOT projects NAFTA traffic along the highway to double by the year 2030.

Improving the route makes it easier for the county to attract top corporations, which create economic benefits residents may see in their own wallets, Salinas said.

"The Fortune 500s of the world are not going to build a plant here unless you have a rail or you have interstate-standard highways," he said. "They've got to travel seamlessly to their market. Time is money."

ECONOMIC BENEFITS

Not having an interstate nearby - Hidalgo County is the largest metropolitan area in the country without an interstate within 100 miles - has hurt business recruitment efforts.

Companies looking to locate in the Valley list its transportation network at the top of their concerns, said Ramiro Garza, the director of the Edinburg Economic Development Corp. That's why economic development officials consistently rank U.S. 281 at the top of their needs list.

Even with the improvements to the highway, it will still lack an interstate designation, Garza noted. But by removing bottlenecks caused by low speed limits and stoplights in small towns, the county can compete for new business against areas such as Laredo that have better transportation options.

Businesses that already operate in the Valley will also have a competitive edge from being able to move goods cheaper and faster than before.

"U.S. 281 is what links us to the rest of the world, whether it comes from Mexico or up north," Garza said. "Making these improvements puts us in a position to compete for companies by having a highway that is up to interstate standards."

Huston points to the west for his best example of what a high-quality transportation corridor can mean for economic development.

Laredo, in a county a third of the population of Hidalgo County, reaps tangible benefits from its direct access to Interstate 35, he said. Truck traffic is three times higher through Laredo than Hidalgo County because of the interstate.

Improving U.S. 281 to cut delivery time, save fuel costs and improve safety is a benefit to truck drivers, Huston said. But it also entices companies to set up shop here by offering them a more efficient way to transport goods.

"If we can do our job better, faster and safer, the companies that are running across the border in Reynosa will notice," said Huston, whose company hauls freight exclusively for the maquilas across the border. "It may bring more commerce to the Valley in the future."