Toll road to improve truck movement near port

Construction is scheduled to begin today on a $34 million toll road designed to improve truck movement near the Port of Brownsville.

The new State Highway 550 corridor, a project of the Cameron County Regional Mobility Authority and the Texas Department of Transportation, will run north of FM 3248 to State Highway 48 in Brownsville.

State Highway 550 will eventually connect to U.S. Expressway 77/83.

The project consists of a controlled-access highway with two 14-foot tolled travel lanes, two 4-foot inside shoulders and two 10-foot outside shoulders, according to TxDOT. The project will also include non-tolled access roads for adjacent properties.

The CCRMA received word in March 2009 that TxDOT had chosen the project to be funded from the $12 billion the state agency received from the federal government’s economic stimulus package.

According to TxDOT, the projects to be funded from the stimulus money were chosen on the following criteria: improve the safety of the transportation system; on corridors of statewide significance or regional priority; leverage or pool resources; create long-term economic benefit to the communities and region that they serve; in areas that are economically distressed; and fair and equitable distribution of projects around the state.

Because SH 550 is only a four-mile project it should probably take about 390 days to complete.

Once the project is completed, the CCRMA will be charged with maintenance and operation of the toll-road. The Texas Department of Transportation will maintain the non-tolled access roads, officials said.

“All toll revenues collected by CCRMA will be used for future Cameron County-TxDOT transportation projects in Cameron County to further improve mobility and reduce congestion in the local area,” said Arnold Cortez, project engineer in charge of TxDOT’s San Benito office. “We can say that the tolls paid will directly benefit Cameron County motorists.”