Thousands of people cross through Gateway International Bridge in Brownsville daily

The amount of people crossing by foot combined with vehicle traffic has pushed Cameron County leaders to make changes.

“On a daily basis, we get an influx of students from Matamoros that come to school in Brownsville,” Cameron County Regional Mobility Authority Executive Director Pete Sepulveda said. “They get dropped off, and those conflicts with the vehicles that are there, and every day they get more and more dangerous.”

Sepulveda said around 90% of pedestrian foot traffic out of all the ports of entry in Brownsville go through the Gateway International Bridge, with up to 12 thousand people crossing by foot daily.

Cameron County leaders say a presidential permit will help with congestion, as it would allow them to build a new bridge with two lanes strictly for pedestrians.

“Where the bridge will land, they'll have to go into a CBP facility so we'll have to work with them on that facility, and again it has to meet all the latest requirements,” Sepulveda said.

The county hopes to work with federal agencies and Mexico in this project.

If approved, the new pedestrian bridge would be built to the west side of Gateway International Bridge.

Cameron County is looking at several funding sources for the project, including help from Mexico and bridge revenue from Cameron County.

The application for a presidential permit will be sent later this month. If approved, the state department will have 120 days to issue the presidential permit, or reject it.

If the project gets that green light, construction is expected to get started in about a year.

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