Eagle Pass MPO advances 2050 plan, approves Paty Win Boulevard classification and opens 20‑day review for FY2027 work program

The Eagle Pass Metropolitan Planning Organization policy board on Tuesday approved a recommendation to functionally classify Paty Win Boulevard as a major collector, opened a 20‑day public review for its draft FY2027 Unified Planning Work Program and adopted a resolution supporting a State Infrastructure Bank loan application for the Paty Win Boulevard extension.

City engineer Eduardo Sto told the board the classification is an administrative Federal Highway Administration designation used for project routing and does not mean MPO dollars will be used for construction. "The intent is not to use any MPO funds for the construction of this roadway," Sto said, framing the action as part of the technical process with TxDOT and FHWA.

The board unanimously approved the classification after brief questions about whether the roadway could become an on‑system route in the future; Sto said there is no current intent for that change but noted conditions can evolve. The board also unanimously approved initiating a standard 20‑day public review and comment period for the draft FY2027 Unified Planning Work Program so the MPO can meet required public‑involvement steps.

During a presentation later in the meeting, consultant Sid Martinez summarized the MTP/TIP update process and the current pool of candidate projects. Martinez said the MPO received 20 project submissions from the region — city, county, TxDOT and other partners — totaling roughly $40 million, noting one large multimodal project submitted by a regional partner is valued at about $30 million and is expected to be pursued through a future public‑private partnership. "One of those projects was a pretty large project by SW ... It is a $30 million project in and of itself," Martinez said.

Martinez explained that, because the MPO does not yet have a regional travel‑demand model, most projects in the current call are operational, bicycle, pedestrian or safety projects rather than large added‑capacity roadways. He outlined the project scoring framework and the requirement to demonstrate fiscal constraint across the 25‑year MTP and the first four years covered by the TIP. Martinez said staff and the consultant will return next month with ranked projects for the board's review.

The board also adopted resolution MO 20269 supporting the City of Eagle Pass’s application to the Texas Department of Transportation State Infrastructure Bank for the Paty Win Boulevard extension as part of the loan application process. Staff described the resolution as a standard application component and did not attach immediate funding obligations to the MPO.

Next steps include the advertised 20‑day public comment period on the FY2027 work program, a coming presentation of project rankings and continued coordination with TxDOT on the MPO’s planning agreement and the travel‑demand model schedule. The board asked staff to schedule training and a calendar of key TIP and submission deadlines for policy members to reduce the risk of missing state deadlines.