Business 77 to be widened in San Benito, Harlingen, Primera

HARLINGEN - The state plans two projects totaling $15 million to widen two stretches of U.S. Business 77 through parts of Harlingen, San Benito and the Primera area, officials said Wednesday.

An $8 million project that would run 3.8 miles from Ed Carey Drive in Harlingen to Sam Houston Boulevard in San Benito would widen Business 77 from four lanes to a five-lane stretch to include a median, officials said.

The city of San Benito could be forced to spend up to $3 million to move underground utility lines for the project there.

The project would widen the roadway from 84 to 104 feet, Rene Garza, a design engineer for the Texas Department of Transportation in San Benito, said.

A $7 million project that would run 1.7 miles from State Highway 107 to Loop 499 in the Primera area would widen Business 77 from two to four lanes, officials said. That project would widen the road from 44 feet to 64 feet, Garza said.

Construction would not encroach on homes and businesses in the areas, Garza said.

TxDOT would buy 7-foot strips of right-of-way at the intersections of Ed Carey and Treasure Hills Boulevard in Harlingen and Helen Moore and Williams roads in San Benito, Garza said.

The agency plans to solicit construction bids in July 2010, Jody Ellington, director of planning and development in Pharr, said.

Construction could begin as early as October 2010, he said.

But lack of funding could delay the projects, Ellington said.

San Benito City Manager Manuel Lara said the city's expense to relocate the utility lines could range from $2.7 million to $3 million to move utility lines.

City Commissioner Victor Garza said the amount of traffic doesn't justify the project and the city's costs.

"For those extra feet, it's going to cost millions of dollars," Garza said of the right-of-way the agency would buy in the area. "It doesn't make sense. (Traffic) doesn't get bumper to bumper. The money must be spent wisely."

In Harlingen, the project would not force expenditures, Assistant City Manager Gabriel Gonzalez said.