Cameron County officials earlier this year were worried the Trump administration’s tariffs and aggressive immigration tactics would cut into the county’s international bridge crossing and revenue numbers, but so far that has not come to pass.
County Administrator Pete Sepulveda Jr. told The Brownsville Herald that recent crossings and revenue have been “really, really stable” despite a 1% decrease for the 2024-2025 fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30.
“One percent amounts to about $250,000 or less,” he said. “We don’t use all our expenses, so we’re able to come out ahead and make up the $250,000 easily. We had a really good year.”
Sepulveda said he can’t speak for ports-of-entry everywhere along the country’s two international borders, but that Cameron County is doing well. The county owns three international bridges, Gateway and Veterans in Brownsville, and Free Trade at Los Indios, and is about to add a fourth, Brownsville’s B&M International Bridge, thanks to a newly inked agreement with Union Pacific for the county to purchase the railroad company’s 50% ownership of the bridge.
Also, in May 2024 the county received a presidential permit for construction of Flor de Mayo International Bridge, a passenger car/pedestrian non-commercial bridge linking West Alton Gloor Boulevard in Brownsville with Flor de Mayo Boulevard in Matamoros, which is now going through the National Environmental Policy Act process.
“We’re doing early coordination with several federal agencies on this project,” Sepulveda said. “We’re on track to start design in the next 18 to 24 months.”
Last August, the county received a presidential permit for construction of a pedestrian bridge at Gateway bridge, a project expected to alleviate conflicts between pedestrian and passenger vehicle traffic, he said.
Gateway bridge is targeted for a $260 million modernization project under direction of the General Services Administration, to start construction the first quarter of next year. Sepulveda called it a major investment that will improve the flow of pedestrians and passenger vehicles.
The bridge system’s recent robust crossing/revenue numbers were welcome news as bridge traffic rebounds from the pandemic, when crossings plummeted. County officials would not have welcomed the current progress being impeded by administration policies, especially since there’s still room for improvement.
“We’re not back to pre-COVID numbers,” Sepulveda said. “Hopefully those numbers keep rising and we can get back to where we were before. COVID was a big hit for everyone. It took us a couple of years to get back to some normalcy.”
He hopes that business activity in Brownsville and the county, such as job creation from SpaceX and LNG at the Port of Brownsville, will help drive bridge crossings. The county’s collaboration with the city on downtown revitalization projects, including a just-approved Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone downtown, may also spur more traffic, Sepulveda said.
“Hopefully all that translates to more pedestrian crossings and more passenger vehicle crossings between downtown Matamoros and Brownsville,” he said. “It’s going to be an exciting year next year, with a lot going on from an international bridge standpoint.”
In light of population projections for the Rio Grande Valley — Gov. Greg Abbott estimates it will double by 2045 — substantial investment in the county’s bridge system is warranted, Sepulveda said.
“That’s just right around the corner,” he said. “If we’re not prepared we won’t be able to take advantage of that growth that is coming.”
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