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Bridge Lanes to Be Expanded

168 views · Published 4 January 2012 · 2:04 · Indexed 4 November 2026

Channel: CBS Rio Grande Valley · 2012 · News & Politics

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The Hidalgo-Reynosa bridge is getting a makeover.
Four more lanes could soon be added to decrease wait times at the bridge.
The superintendent of bridges tells us this makeover is long overdue for the 30 year old bridge.
Traffic through the Hidalgo-Reynosa bridge slowly moves along.
"Sometimes I have to wait for a long long time like one or two hours and it's too much," said a driver.
The woman said the long waits have cut into her visit time with her mom who lives in Reynosa.
"I have to come just for an hour or two hours because then I have to think about the line," she said. "I can't stay longer because then it's just too much."
One man we spoke to said he travels back and forth through the bridge every day, and he said every day there's a long line.
"I wait about 2 hours in line," he said.
He's excited to hear that the bridge could soon have up to four more lanes.
"If there are more lanes, I think we could get through in about five or 10 minutes," he said.
The city of McAllen was awarded over 900 thousand dollars in grant money to expand the number of lanes at the bridge.
 "The traffic continues to increase," said Bridge Superintendent Rigo Villarreal. "During the holidays, we had thousands of people come, and the wait times is what we are trying to reduce."
Villarreal said increasing the number of lanes could also increase the money coming into the city.
"If you reduce that wait time, they are going to go to your bridge before they go to any other bridge,"
 he said. "If they use the bridges, then they are going to use the convenience stores, business, retail the malls."
But the city isn't celebrating yet.
Villarreal still needs to meet with the Customs Border and Protection because they can start construction.
 "We need to work together to make sure that we construct lanes as per their guidelines," he said.
Villarreal said he has a few meetings scheduled this month, and once they get the green light, they will start construction.

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