After decades of delays, new steps are being taken to restore the 95-year-old Roma-Miguel Aleman Suspension Bridge.

The bridge fell into disrepair after being shut down in the 1970s.

Now, residents and city leaders on both sides of the border are pushing to preserve the suspension bridge that residents say is a historic sign of the close relationship between the two cities. 

Historian Jesús Correa says the bridge once marked a bustling new age for the two cities.

“It became a new era, a new economic era for around here,” Correa said. 

Mexico recently committed to funding half of the estimated $14 million in construction costs to repair the historic bridge. 

“It's better to get it restored than destroyed,” Correa said.

Cables and bolts are some of the things on the bridge that need replacing. If they’re not replaced, the bridge is at risk of collapsing into the river.

“There's definitely a sense of urgency to repair it,” Roma Mayor Jaime Escobar Jr. said. 

According to Escobar, the city and county are working together on grants to secure $1.2 million dollars needed to access the $5 million dollars set aside by Congressman Henry Cuellar.

“We were awarded that $5 million earmark, and we don't wanna have to send that money back to Washington,” Escobar said, adding that it will be about three years before construction starts, and about ten years before the project is complete.

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