On February 17 in Alpine, Tom Mangrem, former area engineer at the Alpine office of the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDot), gave an update on La Entrada al Pacifico to members of the Sierra Club. In addition to the trade route, he discussed the proposed FM 170 re-route around Lajitas Resort and access to the Mesa de Anguila, part of Big Bend National Park. The meeting, attended by about 70 people, was one of Mangrem’s last official appearances as a TxDot employee. He retired at the end of February after 27 years with the agency.

La Entrada

La Entrada al Pacifico is the proposed trade route connecting western Mexico with U.S. Highway 385. According to the Midland - Odessa Transportation Alliance Inc. (MOTRAN), a consortium in favor of the route, “The mission of La Entrada al Pacifico, the corridor to the Pacific, is to create economic opportunities for the Permian Basin by improving transportation infrastructure and forging strong partnerships with Mexico.”

As envisioned, the La Entrada route would link the port of Topolobampo, Sinaloa, via both existing rail lines and yet-to-be-built roadways through the Sierra Madre mountains into Texas. The proposed cross-Sierra Madre road between Choix and San Rafael would be 121 miles and would roughly parallel the Chihuahua al Pacifico train tracks. The train route, with more than 40 bridges and 80 tunnels, is considered a marvel of railroad engineering and took more than 90 years to complete. Road builders would face similar difficulties in crossing the Sierra Madre. The proposed route would enter the U.S. at the port of entry in Presidio and continue on U.S. highways 67 and 90 though Marfa, Alpine, and Ft. Stockton up to Interstate 20.

The rationale of the route is that it would save four days in travel time for U.S.-bound imports from Asia compared with traveling from west coast ports such as Long Beach or Oakland. According to Mangrem, politics is the driving force behind La Entrada, not economics. He added, “There is a lot of political pressure to do this.”

Don Dowdey (left) of the Sierra Club and Tom Mangrem, of The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDoT) attend to a question at Mangrem’s February 16 presentation to the Sierra Club. Mangrem gave the group of about 70 people an update on the proposed La Entrada al Pacifico trade route, the proposed re-route of FM 170 around Lajitas Resort, and access to Mesa de Anguila in Big Bend National Park. Mangrem retired from TxDot at the end of February after 27 years with the agency. (John Waters)

Politics

The political posse of pressure is significant.  Governors Rick Perry of Texas, Reyes Baeza of Chihuahua, Mexico, and Jesus Aguilar of Sinaloa, Mexico, are in favor of the plan. According to Mangrem, last year Congressman Henry Bonilla secured $1 million for a TxDot feasibility study. The study has elicited the interest of seven firms and the contract for it will be awarded sometime in March. The study will take about a year to complete and three public hearings will be held in the Big Bend region.

The project is moving ahead elsewhere: last month Texas House Speaker Tom Craddick’s office issued a press release that read in part, “Once construction of the Texas State Highway 349 reliever route begins, it will mark another step toward the completion of La Entrada al Pacifico, an international trade corridor between Texas and Western Mexico.”

When the funding for the Highway 349 project was obtained last December, Ric Williamson, Chairman of the Texas Transportation Commission, said, “Expediting funding for this project is a positive for all.  It will help provide mobility improvements for the local community and foster the movement of goods across international lines as well.”

Economics

While the political support from Midland and Odessa is strong, the economic logic is weak. In a 2002 study of the route Dr. Harold Hunt of Texas A&M University noted, “Even if La Entrada is completed and trucking companies choose to use the route, economic activity in many of the Texas cities along the La Entrada corridor may not increase. Currently trucks transporting goods from Mexico into the United States must stop at the border to be inspected by U.S. Customs and other government agencies. Because trucking companies typically expect long-haul drivers to cover about 600 miles per day before a layover, Texas cities along NAFTA [North American Free Trade Agreement] routes but away from the border may not reap an economic benefit from La Entrada other than increased truck-stop activity.”

Hunt concludes his study by saying, “If La Entrada is in fact completed in ten years, it could enhance demand for warehouse-distribution real estate development in Texas cities located roughly 600 miles from the border.” 

We contacted Dr. Hunt for an update of his 2002 study and here is a synopsis of what he told the Gazette: When visiting Sinaloa and Chihuahua in 2004, he saw no evidence of the proposed road improvements on the highway between San Blas and St. Croix. Neither did he see any of the proposed road construction on the 121-mile portion between St. Croix and San Rafael through the rugged Sierra Madre mountains.

The original rail line, the Chihuahua al Pacifico, begins at sea level and rises to almost 8,000 feet. Dr. Hunt knew of no proposals to reconstruct the numerous tunnels on the line to accommodate double-stacked trains and thought that the steep grades would preclude using such trains. Mangrem also noted the difficulties of using the rail line in its present form. Limiting trans-Sierra Madre trains to single height greatly diminishes the economics of carrying Asian imports bound for the U.S. Hunt did know of experiments using lighter “road-railers” to carry vegetables out of Los Mochis, the western terminus of the line. The rail line in the U.S. is also in poor condition, noted Mangrem, where the speed limit is 10 m.p.h. in many areas, and despite upgrades in recent years the line is not presently being used.

Lajitas

The proposed re-route of FM 170 around Lajitas is stalled, according to Mangrem. Last year Congressman Henry Bonilla secured $1.2 million in federal highway funds to re-route it to bypass the privately owned Lajitas resort. Federal funds can only pay 80 per cent of project costs. Last year Daniel Hostettler of Lajitas said that the resort would pay the extra $300,000 needed for the project. Mangrem said he was unaware of the money being paid by Lajitas to TxDot. He told the Gazette, “I’m unaware of any further development, it’s been quiet.” During his talk Mangrem said “We’re going to postpone the project until a later date to see what happens.”

The fate of the re-route is uncertain as the crews working on the FM 170 project are almost finished and most of the crews and machinery from the main project contractor, Gilvin-Terrill, have left the area. Currently a skeleton crew remains doing finishing work, such as putting up signs and installing guardrails.  According to Mangrem, in mid April a final second course of asphalt will be applied and the project completed. The fate of the 1.2-mile Lajitas re-route is unsure. How long the funding obtained by Bonilla will remain in place while the project is in limbo is unknown. According to Erich Zimmerman, a policy analyst with Taxpayers For Common Sense in Washington D.C., “I looked at the legislation and I see nothing indicating a time frame in which the money must be spent.  That doesn’t mean that a future Congress may not come and rescind dollars that have been unspent, but the current legislation, I believe, doesn’t stipulate on that matter.”

In an editorial last year, the San Antonio Express News called on Congressman Bonilla to redirect the Lajitas funding to more worthy causes. The editorial also credited the Big Bend Gazette for breaking the story.

Mesa de Anguila

If the re-route of FM 170 does take place, public access to Mesa de Anguila portion of Big Bend National Park might be cut off.  The issue has concerned members of the Sierra Club and outdoor enthusiasts since the re-route was first proposed. Mangrem indicated TxDot would not press Lajitas for an easement affording access to the area. Mangrem said he had been told by TxDot management that requesting such an easement was beyond the scope of TxDot’s authority. In a letter composed several months ago to TxDot, Big Bend Superintendent John King stated, “Inasmuch as public funding is being used to construct the Lajitas Relief Route it would seem appropriate that language be inserted into the agreement that is being crafted between TxDOT and the Lajitas Resort that would guarantee perpetual public access from State Highway 170 to the areas described above.”

To date neither the park nor TxDot has secured a written agreement securing access. Numerous requests for comment from Lajitas the resort had not been answered by press time.

Newly-installed signs in Lajitas point to the Mesa de Anguila trailhead. Local outdoor enthusiasts, the Sierra Club, and the National Park Service have advocated a written agreement between the NPS and Lajitas seeking permanent public access to the trailhead, which requires traversing land  privately owned by Lajitas Resort. To date no written agreement has been reached. (John Waters)