Alvarez: We need to pay more attention to the border region’s transportation needs

BROWNSVILLE, Texas – Texas legislators and state transportation chiefs need to pay more attention to the connectivity needs of the border region.

This is the view of Pedro ‘Pete’ Alvarez, district engineer for the Texas Department of Transportation’s Pharr District. 

Alvarez gave a presentation on current and future highway projects in his district at a Border Trade Advisory Committee meeting held at the Brownsville Events Center on April 16. Before going into detail on specific projects, he gave a big picture view.

“The Texas economy. We heard from the consultants earlier, how big our economy is in the state of Texas. And one of the things that I think is really, really, important for all of us to recognize is that, as we move forward… you hear a lot about what’s happening to the rest of the state but we need to start focusing on what’s happening on the border. Whether it is El Paso, Laredo or the Pharr District here in the (Rio Grande) Valley,” Alvarez said.

“The Texas economy. I’ve heard many stats but one of the stats that I’ve heard is that Texas would be the eighth largest economy in the world if it were a nation. I challenge you to be thinking about how much of that economy passes through our border region. We need to be focusing on that and bringing attention to that, to provide us connectivity, not just to the rest of the state but the rest of the nation. 

“And so when we start thinking about connectivity, I think about Commissioner New and Commissioner Meade and the commissioners as a whole… looking not only at the Texas Triangle, looking at the metropolitan areas, but also looking at the border districts and connecting our border districts to the rest of the state.”

Texas Transportation Commissioners Alvin New and Alejandro ‘Alex’ Meade, III, gave opening remarks at the Border Trade Advisory Committee meeting.

Here is a video recording of TxDOT Pharr District Engineer Pedro ‘Pete’ Alvarez’s presentation to the Border Trade Advisory Committee on April 16:

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