Thursday marked the start of the produce season, and the 30th anniversary of the Pharr International Bridge moving fruits and vegetables across the border.

The Pharr International Bridge is the third-ranked port in Texas for trade with Mexico, and it handles more than 65% of fresh produce imports from Mexico and drives in more than $47 billion in annual trade.

“Every year we're growing our budget,” Pharr International Bridge Director Luis Bazan said. “We're on task to do a one or two percent increase for this year, and it looks like it's going to be about another one to 1.5% increase for the following fiscal year. So very conservative, but at the end of the day we do see the future, we do see that the markets are opening up — we're going to continue to move quickly through here."

Bazan added that the port is expected to bring in $17 million in revenue for the city.

The bulk of that money  is used on city improvement projects.