In hopes of cutting down traffic congestion, big changes are coming to one of Hidalgo County’s main thoroughfares.
North 10th Street will soon be expanding northward.
Anyone who lives in McAllen knows 10th Street can get very congested, but to alleviate some of that traffic, the county is heading a $12 million project designed to expand 10th Street from Highway 107 to Montecristo.
“We believe it’s crucial because there is a lot of truck traffic traveling down Trenton,” Hidalgo County Precinct 4 commissioner Joseph Palacios said. “We have a hospital in the area. It will be a big incentive to move traffic north.”
Palacios says the five lane expansion will not only make roads safer everyday but in emergencies too.
“We’re looking at how during hurricane season we can get traffic from subdivisions to the expressway to utilize the hurricane corridor,” Palacios said.
Expanding north 10th Street to Montecristo will not only relieve congestion around the area, it will bring added economic benefits as well.
While the area around 10th Street and Trenton Road has seen rapid growth over the past few years, this expansion is expected to push that growth north as well.
“Anytime you can open up a new road way that connects one end of the county to another it’s going to help bring in new business, develop areas that perhaps have not been looked at before,” Edinburg city manager Ramiro Garza said.
As a joint project between the county and municipalities, the project has attracted more state and federal funds.
And by using more money from outside the county, Palacios says more money is leftover to maintain other roads across the county.
The recently passed drainage bond will also aid in fixing the county roads.
“If we improve the drainage, we will have less water on our roadways and less deterioration on our roads,” Palacios said.
The design phase and environmental study is expected to take another 18 months before construction begins.
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