By Valley Morning Star Editorial Board
Those who live in South Texas don’t just consider themselves to be residents of their respective cities. They also see themselves as part of a single Rio Grande Valley community. We have common cultural interests and, generally speaking, common needs.A couple of highways link our Valley cities together like charms on a single bracelet, and most residents think nothing about going from one Valley town to another to shop, for entertainment and to visit friends and family.
Some residents and leaders, therefore, believe we should regionalize our transportation needs and potentially increase our transportation dollars by consolidating our three metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) into one.
Lawmakers and policymakers in Austin claim regional unity would give us a greater voice in asking for state transportation funds. If we merged, we are told, our region could become the state’s fifth-largest MPO, bumping El Paso and behind the MPOs representing population giants such as Houston, Dallas/Fort Worth, Austin and San Antonio.
Three MPOs currently serve the Valley: the Hidalgo County MPO, Brownsville MPO and the Harlingen-San Benito area. Our area has far more MPOs than other areas of Texas. For instance, the North Central Texas Council of Governments is the MPO that represents the North Texas cities of Dallas, Fort Worth, Arlington, Denton, Lewisville and McKinney. And that MPO receives the most state funding.
Many local officials support the idea of a merger, which has been discussed and studied for over a year. But some notable holdouts include the mayors of Harlingen, San Benito and Brownsville and even mayors of smaller Hidalgo county cities.
In a joint conference call recently with Brownsville Mayor Tony Martinez, perhaps the most outspoken of the skeptics, he told the editorial boards of The Monitor, Brownsville Herald and Valley Morning Star, that he doesn’t oppose a regional transportation idea outright, but that he needs more information before he would commit the control and possibly funds from the Valley’s largest city to such a joint effort.
We believe his concerns are valid, particularly if answers to his tough questions are not forthcoming.
We call upon lawmakers in Austin and state transportation officials to give Martinez, as well as the mayors of McAllen, Harlingen and San Benito more facts and figures about what monies could be expected from the Texas Department of Transportation, as well as expected discretionary funds from the Legislature, if our region merged into a single MPO.
We also call on local leaders to continue discussions on this proposal and begin to set regional priorities for highway funds to alleviate concerns that one community or one area of the Valley will benefit from a merger at the expense of other communities.
“Can we have some hard answers to some questions? One: If we get more money. Two: How much? Three: Where is it going to go to? Those are the questions that have never been answered,” Martinez asked.
As a lawyer and businessman, it’s understandable that Martinez, who also is chairman of the Brownsville MPO, wants a strategic business plan that is waterproof and foolproof before entering into such a venture.
We respect that.
No one can argue that Brownsville has not shown itself as having been wise with its road funds and projects.
Over the years, the city has aggressively and prudently leveraged its local dollars to enable the creation of many wide-ranging projects to help the city stay ahead of road congestion and population growth. And it has done so with the help of Cameron County.
Last year, Cameron County Commissioners unanimously approved a $1.6 billion plan to fund county wide transportation infrastructure improvements by setting up a county wide Transportation Reinvestment Zone.
The county dedicates a portion of the tax increment on property in the zone to fund the development of road projects. These funds are leveraged with other federal, state and local funding sources to finance new construction and road renovation projects.
That is forward thinking and an example of how political unions and solid planning can provide a greater good.
But such a strategic execution requires solid planning. And as Martinez has reiterated, he and the mayors of San Benito and Harlingen do not feel that state officials have fully explained why it’s in their best interests to merge the MPOs.
McAllen Mayor Jim Darling said he understands that there are many variables at play with regards to the availability of state transportation funds. And he knows nothing is guaranteed. Nor is there a guarantee as to how lawmakers will see fit to disburse funds to a region, or not.
“I think the potential for money is worth the try,” Darling said about one RGV MPO. “Quite frankly with the Legislature’s approval and those kinds of things, if it doesn’t work you go back to what it was, but you won’t get anything if you don’t try.”
Transportation funds ebb and flow depending upon the state’s economy, oil revenue and other factors. When the economy is on an upswing, these monies are more readily available. Funds also are distributed based on several criteria, including traffic congestion, population and area needs.
State Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa, D-McAllen, told us that one RGV MPO would enable our region “to have a seat at the table” and be eligible for the discretionary funds that lawmakers dole out.
Hinojosa recently wrote in a column: “The Valley is transforming into a beacon of education, research and technology. And we need this same transformation in transportation and infrastructure to complement the rest of our region’s economic boom. We cannot continue to be three small Metropolitan Planning Organizations that are fighting for transportation dollars, which are merely the leftovers of the state’s big MPOs.”
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