The Texas Department of Transportation is getting $14 million in federal funds to replace a nearly century-old bridge over the San Antonio River that provides a crucial connection to several key water ports.
The federal Bridge Investment Program will provide the funding for the Texas DOT’s project to replace the U.S. Highway-59 San Antonio River Bridge in Goliad County, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (USDOT) Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) announced April 13. The bridge is less than 70 miles from three key water ports, the DOT reports: the Port of Corpus Christi, Calhoun Port Authority and the Port of Victoria, and is within 150 miles of Port Laredo, the country's largest inland port along the U.S./Mexico border.
"This 93-year-old bridge carries 4,250 vehicles per day, including more than 1,300 trucks," the USDOT stated in the news release. "It is in fair condition but is at risk of falling into poor condition. With its current width, the bridge struggles to accommodate the many wide-load vehicles that cross it daily."
Construction plans will widen the bridge deck, raise it to be outside of the 100-year flood plain and increase the shoulders, according to the news release. With the bridge project, the state and the FHWA are investing in both the economic growth and the safety and long-term resilience of the local communities, the release states.
“In San Antonio, TX, we’re helping replace the U.S. Highway 59 bridge at the San Antonio River. The new bridge will allow for two lanes, accommodate wide-load vehicles, and enhance resiliency during extreme weather events,” Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg said in a tweet on April 14.
The $14 million Texas grant is from the $300 million Bridge Investment Program (BIP), which supports nine bridge projects in eight states and the District of Columbia, the release states. The BIP is supported by President Joe Biden's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and is in addition to billions of dollars in federal funding for other infrastructure projects already received by all states and territories, the release reports.
“When bridges have to close for repairs—or worse, begin to fail—it can cut off access to an entire community, adding hours to commutes, costing money for local businesses, and delaying first responders from getting to an emergency,” Buttigieg said in the news release. “The grant awards we’re announcing today are helping communities of all sizes modernize their bridges so that school buses, delivery trucks, ambulances, and commuters can get where they need to go quickly and safely.”
