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Progress ahead for county road project…

COMMISSIONERS GREEN-LIGHT LOOP BUILDER

$14.2M development diverts heavy traffic, opens land for business growth

By Marc Robertson

When oil and gas business returns to South Texas, Cotulla residents will be spared the downtown traffic jams that became synonymous with the last industry surge over the Eagle Ford Shale.

More than five years after first launching a plan to build a traffic relief route around the city and open up real estate for new development, La Salle County commissioners voted Monday, April 24, to grant a construction bid for more than $14 million.

The lowest of four bidders to build a four-lane bypass route between Hwy 97 and IH-35 on the northeast side of Cotulla, Anderson Columbia made an offer of $14,249,391 and was promptly awarded the job in a move by Commissioner Raul Ayala to accelerate the process. Comm. Erasmo Ramirez seconded the motion and was supported by Comms. Jack Alba and Noel Niavez.

Other bids opened for the first time in court on Monday included offers of $14,637,919 from SER Construction, $14,915,868 from Primoris Services Corporation, and $14,970,730 from IOC Company.

The project ranks alongside construction of IH-35 in the early 1970s and expansion of the local airport three years ago as one of the largest public works efforts in La Salle County history. Of particular significance to La Salle County government today is that the anticipated debt for the road building project is already paid off by half. County commissioners began making debt service payments four years ago and, by the time the road is finished in 24 months, will have only about a year left to pay for it.

County Judge Joel Rodriguez, who first promoted the idea of building a truck relief route around Cotulla at the height of oil and gas development over the Eagle Ford Shale, noted that plans had been for commissioners to review all of the bids during the coming week and make a decision on Monday, May 1. Comm. Ayala’s move this week, however, effectively abbreviated the timeframe and signals the start of a process that will result in construction of the new road.

Commercial traffic through downtown Cotulla at the peak of the Eagle Ford Shale oil boom resulted in logjams as lines of trucks and service vehicles filled the city’s principal thoroughfares. In one testimony to commissioners in 2011, County Judge Rodriguez said he had heard repeated complaints from local residents who said they were unable to drive through town because of the throng of heavy trucks.

A number of senior citizens believed they were “trapped in their own homes,” unable to drive to the grocery store or to downtown businesses, because they couldn’t navigate between lines of 18-wheel freighters, the county judge said. Furthermore, oilfield trucks were passing directly in front of the Cotulla High School campus on Hwy 97, which Judge Rodriguez said local residents viewed as hazardous, creatingtraffic jams and increasing the risk of accidents between commercial and school traffic.

After being turned down by the Texas Department of Transportation for funds to build a truck relief route in 2010, county commissioners went to the voters in a 2012 special election for permission to sell up to $20 million in bonds for road projects. Statistics provided by the state transportation department at the time showed that a survey conducted at key intersections in Cotulla had measured traffic flow through the city at more than 18,000 commercial vehicles per day. Readings had been taken onthe IH-35 north- and southbound lanes, at the highway intersection with FM 468, and at the intersections of Hwy 97 with Main Street and FM 624.

Voters agreed overwhelmingly in late 2012 to allow the county to sell bonds for the road projects. Commissioners had stipulated that other road repair work would be given priority; several county roads were subsequently repaved or replaced entirely. A further $10 million bond sale was later also approved.

Today, the county is poised to make good on its five-year promise to build the relief route across a stretch of undeveloped land between the Cotulla – La Salle County Airport and the La Salle County Fairgrounds. Real estate alongside the new road will then be opened for commercial development, generating increased property taxes for the county.

At Cotulla City Hall, elected officials have been expecting word from the county on the start of construction. Although the territory along which the bypass travels is presently outside city limits, Cotulla expects eventually to annex the land, bringing its adjoining properties into the municipal utility system and drawing tax revenues from new businesses. Warehouses, travel-related enterprise, industrial properties, retail, airport-related business and housing are among the developments presently eyed by local government officials for the area.

Initially estimated at five million dollars, the first design of the bypass called for railroad grade crossings but was quickly upgraded to handle increased traffic flow and to carry vehicles over the Union Pacific, thereby reducing traffic jams and the risk of train-related accidents, the county judge said. Additionally, Union Pacific had asked that as many as three existing grade crossings be closed in the county if a single new grade crossing were to be built.

“That was almost a deal breaker,” the county judge said. “When we looked at the crossings that might have been closed, we realized immediately that a lot of landowners were going to be denied access to their properties. The landowners saw it, too, and they let us know about it. We were not going to do that.”

Ultimately, the county abandoned the idea of a grade crossing and sought permission from Union Pacific to build a railroad overpass between Cotulla and Gardendale. That permission was granted in 2015.

Today’s construction plans for the new truck route include the four-lane road between Hwy 97 and the IH-35 east-side (northbound) access roadwitha bridge over the Union Pacific Railroad tracks. The project does notinclude an interstate overpass.

The county judge said he is pleased that the project has reached its next stage.

“It took a while to get to this point, but negotiations held us up for a while, and in the end we believe that we have reached a good understanding,” Rodriguez said. “The price went up over the five years we have been working on this, but it’s important to remember that we were granted some of the land that this road will pass through, and we were given clearance to go over the railroad tracks. This is a good deal for everyone involved.”

When contracted engineers gathered data for an estimated budget that would include the four-lane road and the rail overpass, county commissioners were told to brace themselves for a $19 million price tag, Rodriguez said.

“That was a tough one, for sure,” the county judge said of the estimated budget. “We had to work on bringing it down, and we ended up at an estimate of $17 million. I know that the commissioners are very pleased this is coming together under budget.”

Comm. Ayala’s motion to give Anderson Columbia the go-ahead for construction is provisional and dependent upon an assessment of the bid itself.

County officials expect to host a groundbreaking ceremony for the new road when construction begins.

“The oil and gas industry is very volatile, and we believe that commerce will return to our area,” Rodriguez said this week. “World events can raise oil and gas prices any time, and when that happens, we will have the infrastructure in place.”