Webb County officials celebrate presidential permit for $300M Bridge 4/5, warn of businesses coming to area
Laredo Morning Times
10.04.24
A press conference was held at the Webb County Courthouse on Friday to announce and respond to questions about the latest presidential permit for Bridge 4/5.
The presidential permit authorizes “Southwebb Bridge Company LLC to construct, maintain, and operate a vehicular and pedestrian border crossing near Laredo, Texas, at the international boundary between the United States and Mexico.”
Webb County Judge Tano Tijerina and the rest of the Commissioners Court celebrated the news by answering questions from media members in the audience.
“I’m elated, and this is something I’ve been working on since 2009 when I first ran for county judge,” Tijerina said. “You have no idea the emotions I got yesterday when I received the text. This is a really, really proud moment.”
According to Tijerina, there were many naysayers throughout his time concerning the permit for another international bridge.
“This is what happens when you work together and you just keep grinding hard,” Tijerina said. “And I say ‘work together’ because there were a lot of naysayers saying it would never happen, and that’s OK. Just put your head down, and I remember I am not just working for some of the people — I am working for all the people. I am working for all of Webb County. My point is that when you work together, you can move mountains.”
As for the maintenance of Bridge 4/5, the current plan is for the city of Laredo to continue overseeing it, as they have done before and are still doing.
Tijerina said the new international bridge is expected to spur economic growth in south Laredo and southern Webb County.
Bridge 4/5 is expected to be placed between Rio Bravo and El Cenizo. He also anticipates the change to feel almost overnight, as the timeline for the construction of the newest international bridge is to break ground within the next five years.
The cost is estimated at $300 million, but the county has projected it could reach upwards of $450 million when all is said and done.
Commissioner of Precinct 1 Jesse Gonzalez wants residents to stay informed and aware of what is happening in the community, as he said they had been planning for this bridge in case it ever passed.
“We had been planning for this,” Gonzalez said. “Traffic congestion and headaches — we know that — that is why we have been working on so many projects at the county and state levels through the Metropolitan Planning Organization. The city, county and TxDOT have all been working on the decision-making for overpasses, road expansions and road construction that have reached that level.”
Gonzalez also reminded the county that the commissioners had previously passed a $27 million road-widening project for Mangana-Hein Road that will likely help with the expected boom of businesses in south Laredo and the county.
Gonzalez recalled some residents asking why the expansion projects were in the south rather than the north, like Mines Road, but those projects in the north have already started. He said this is now the south’s turn with the upcoming bridge.
“The Mangana-Hein Road project is fully funded; the fire station on Mangana-Hein is fully funded; even the fire station at the city level in south Laredo with my brother, Councilmember Gilbert Gonzalez, is fully funded,” Gonzalez said. “The health clinic on 83 South is fully funded and under construction, and the waterline projects from Rio Bravo to Mangana-Hein Road are fully funded, too.
"With all these projects, now we can see the big picture. Now people can say, ‘No wonder they were working on that.’ We are not throwing money away, guys. We are allocating every dollar and cent the right way to make sure the community benefits.”
Now, Gonzalez wants landowners between Highway 359 and Rio Bravo and El Cenizo to prepare for what is coming, as he hopes to see local businesses emerge.
Commissioner of Pct. 4 Ricardo Jaime said the additional international bridge will help secure Laredo and Webb County as one of the top inland ports of entry in the nation.