TxDOT outlines preferred Jackson Road rebuild, seeks environmental clearance ahead of right-of-way work

TxDOT district staff briefed the McAllen City Commission at a workshop on a preferred design for Jackson Road from State Highway 495 south to Hall Acres Avenue, saying the project would add capacity, cut conflict points and require coordinated right-of-way acquisitions.

The presentation, given by Pete Alvarez, TxDOT district engineer, and Rex Costas, deputy district engineer, laid out three alignment alternatives and identified a preferred alignment previously shared in March 2024. "Here is the project overview of the limits from, S H 495 down all the way south to Hall Acre, Road Avenue," Alvarez said. The plan calls for three lanes in each direction separated by a raised median that in places would range from about 2 feet to as much as 14–16 feet.

TxDOT said the preferred alignment reduces the number of conflict points along the corridor from 11 in the existing layout to two (right-in/right-out), and cited 987 crashes recorded during the period analyzed. Rex Costas said the agency's level-of-service modeling shows current congested conditions at several intersections inside the project limits — with Moore Road identified as operating at LOS F in 2023 — and that the no-build option…