Hidalgo County RMA chairman makes a plea for unity at RGVMPO meeting

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WESLACO, Texas – Hidalgo County Regional Mobility Authority Chairman Robert L. Lozano has made a plea for unity when it comes to transportation projects across the region.

Lozano made his comments at a special meeting of the Rio Grande Valley Metropolitan Planning Organization policy board held July 21. He is a board member of the MPO.

HCRMA did not get its proposal for more funding for Segment 4 of the Hidalgo County Loop project passed yet Lozano, in an effort to show unity, still voted for the staff recommendation of RGVMPO.

“My message is the same one that I started with many months ago, it’s a message of unity,” Lozano said.

The special meeting of the RGVMPO policy board was called because the group is facing a hard deadline. If it does not spend the money, it has accrued soon it runs the risk of losing future funding from the Texas Department of Transportation. The MPO has carried over $102 million in what is known as Category 7 funds. Year after year the MPO carries over the funds because many of the projects on its to do list are not shovel ready.

In his remarks, Lozano pointed out that HCRMA does not normally seek Category 7 funding from the MPO. He said they made a pitch for funding for a particular segment of the County Loop because the MPO found itself in a “use it or lose it” situation.

“If the (RGVMPO) TAC (Technical Advisory Committee has a project and they know, they understand, that there’s a unified desire to move this project forward, then I think that should influence the recommendation that the TAC is giving to the policy board, because they understand that in that community, in that area, that is what is being requested. That’s what the need is. And the need is bubbling up in a unified fashion,” Lozano said.

Lozano then answered his own question. Why did the RMA bring forward its proposal for Category 7 funding.

“First, use it or lose it. Second, it’s my understanding that the RMA historically has not requested Category 7 funds. However, all of y’all were witness to… the strong desire to accelerate Section A, 1 and 2,” Lozano said.

Lozano said anyone who knows about the County Loop project knows it was started down by the international bridges. First with the International Bridge Trade Corridor project and then 365 Toll project. That project is headed in a westerly direction, Lozano explained.

“If we’re committed to working with the County and with the City of Mission and the cities of Edinburg and McAllen, originally, they wanted A 1 and 2. Hurry, hurry. Now, well, there’s a gap in between where we’re going to end (with 365) and where A 1 starts, and that gap is Segment 4.”

Lozano said Segment 4 has been environmentally cleared and the schematics have been approved by TxDOT. On top of that a functional classification has been issued by the Federal Highway Administration, Lozano explained.

“The project is on the MTP and Hidalgo County RMA will not request future Category 7 funds to accomplish this. We plan to do it the way we’re doing what we’ve got on the ground right now,” Lozano said.

“And so, it’s important to me that everybody, fellow board members here, understand why the RMA came with the request, and how we got to where we got. I thought it would be hypocritical, it really would, if I come over here saying, no, I’m the RMA, and this is what we want, and we want it. No, I thought we were trying to put forth what our constituencies and fellow stakeholders want next, and that’s how we got here, and that’s how it came about.”

At a previous MPO meeting, the policy board voted to make Hidalgo County and the City of Mission “project sponsors” of Sections A1 and A2 as non-tolled highways within the Metropolitan Transportation Plan, even though the RMA has primacy over the project.

Lozano said unity could be achieved if elected officials and appointed board “put our heads together” before consultants get involved.

“It’s important to me that you understand that we must come together in a unified fashion. And I totally agree, unity crosses county lines. Let’s just look out for our region.”

Lozano added: “Any community that doesn’t have the staff or doesn’t have the ability that’s trying to get a project accomplished, the RMA is here for you. We’re standing by and we’re waiting, and we want to work for you.”

Editor’s Note: Hidalgo County RMA’s board of directors met a few days after the RGVMPO met. Here is a video recording of Robert L. Lozano’s Chairman’s Report, as it relates to the County Loop and the MPO meeting: