BBI Transportation Team Supports Public Meeting for TxDOT Pharr Interchange Project

Paul Voiles, PE, PTP; Ben Hart, PE; and Ryan Hinson, EIT of BBI’s Transportation team attended a public meeting on Thursday, June 14 in Pharr, Texas as TxDOT revealed plans to the public for the agency’s project to reconstruct the Pharr Interchange. The meeting took place at the Boggus Ford Event Center and allowed the public to come and ask questions about the upcoming $320 million design-build project that is scheduled to begin construction in 2020. Paul Voiles shared BBI’s plans for the project, and the project team also manned tables to answer questions about BBI’s schematic design for the upcoming work.

The Pharr Interchange project has been quoted by local TxDOT officials as one of the most important projects in the District, and in the words of Pharr Mayor Dr. Ambrosio Hernandez, there is a “dire need” for improvements to this interchange, as the local population of Hidalgo County is projected to hit over 1 million before the 2020 census.

“There is no doubt that it no longer meets the needs of our growing population,” the Mayor claims, “and in fact, it has become a source of frustration for many who travel through the area daily, as it becomes a bottleneck for traffic due to its restrictive one-lane access.”

TxDOT plans to alleviate the stress of this ongoing problem by expanding the interchange, replacing the one-lane direct connectors with two-lane direct connectors, and providing additional operational improvements to on and off ramps.

Local news station KRGV captured highlights of the meeting that can be found here: http://www.krgv.com/story/38429215/txdot-announces-plans-to-extend-pharr-interchange

The Rio Grand Guardian also published a detailed article which can be found here: https://riograndeguardian.com/breaking-pharr-interchange-project-to-start-in-2020/