Eagle Pass MPO approves 10 projects to move forward in 2050 long-range plan

The Eagle Pass Metropolitan Planning Organization Transportation Policy Board on Wednesday approved a consultant‑recommended list of 10 projects to be advanced for inclusion in the MPO’s 2050 Metropolitan Transportation Plan and the short‑range Transportation Improvement Program.

Stanley Consultants principal planner Sid Martinez told the board the call for projects produced 20 submissions totaling about $40,000,000, including a $30,000,000 multimodal transit facility proposed by SWART as a public‑private partnership. He described the projects recommended for funding as largely operational improvements — bicycle/pedestrian projects, illumination and other corridor safety measures — and said TxDOT‑submitted on‑system projects had the data required for immediate scoring and inclusion. “We received 20 projects totaling about $40,000,000,” Martinez said. “One of them is a $30,000,000 multimodal transit facility.”

Martinez explained the MPO used an approved 100‑point technical framework to rank projects: safety and security (25 points), congestion mitigation (25), project readiness and feasibility (20), economic development and freight (10), multimodal/active transportation (10) and accessibility (10). He added that Category 2 (TxDOT metropolitan corridor) funds are the primary roadway funding source for the region and that the MPO’s current estimate is roughly $27,000,000 in Category 2 funds over 10 years and an estimated $65,000,000 over a 25‑year period.

Several board members pressed about local projects that did not appear in the eligible list, notably a drainage and traffic improvement submitted for El Indio Highway. The consultant and staff said some county submissions lacked cost estimates and others were off‑system — meaning they were not eligible for Category 2 money without additional coordination and technical studies by TxDOT. The board was told the MTP and TIP can be amended quarterly if projects later meet eligibility requirements.

Commissioner [name not specified in transcript], a board member, said he was concerned about committee engagement in the selection process and asked whether the Transportation Advisory Committee and local sponsors had sufficient opportunity to provide input. “It’s just concerning to me because we have a committee that is supposed to be representing community needs,” the member said. Staff responded that the TAC reviewed the recommendations and that the technical scoring used the criteria the board previously adopted.

After discussion the board moved, seconded and voted to approve the 10 recommended projects to move forward into the MTP/TIP process. The vote was recorded in the meeting as an affirmative motion that passed; no roll‑call vote totals were given in the transcript.

Why it matters: advancing the ranked projects puts shovel‑ready operational improvements into the MPO’s program and establishes a prioritized schedule for programming scarce Category 2 funds. Projects that lacked necessary technical data remain on an unfunded priority list but can be added later if sponsors coordinate with TxDOT, provide cost estimates and complete required studies.

What’s next: staff and the consultant will prepare draft MTP and TIP documents for board review (expected drafts in September) and will submit the drafts to the Federal Highway Administration, Federal Transit Administration and TxDOT for review ahead of a target local adoption by December 2026. The MPO reiterated the plan and TIP can be amended quarterly to add or reprioritize projects.