By CINDY STURLIN
When our S. Garcia St. Swing Bridge became privately-owned in 1975, after the Texas Highway Department declared there was no further public need for it to continue maintaining and operating the first Queen Isabella Causeway, Long Island (LI) had 24 residents and Outdoor Resorts was just beginning to develop. Long Island Owners’ Association (LIOA) bought the swing bridge in 1989, and LI now swells to several thousand people during busy seasons; further development of surrounding land on LI is in near-future planning stages. Our fear is that there is no alternative route to evacuate LI if there were an accident, weather event, or petroleum spill causing closure of the bridge or the channel between Port Isabel and Long Island. We, the Long Island Village Bridge Board, continue to work on three goals:
1. LIOA, a private community of limited resources, must continue to fund all bridge operating costs to serve a public function-bridge maintenance and repair for recreational and commercial navigation traffic through the Gulf Intracoastal Water Way (GIWW) channel. Private ownership has always been a funding problem; it is now becoming unsustainable.
2. A non-federal sponsor for the bridge is needed. We need to return Garcia St., which used to be part of Highway 100, to the Texas Department of Transportation; then the swing bridge can become a public entity again, and will qualify for federal, state, and local public funds. LIOA is advocating for a prevention vs. reaction-based safety program. Safe bridge crossings are an urgent concern with increased bridge openings and allisions to a deteriorating S. Garcia St. Swing Bridge.
3. LIOA is requesting a 216 planning study by the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to determine other channel designs or adjustments to lower the risk to LI and PI due to the greatly increasing growth of commercial and barge traffic. Many barges carry flammable and toxic petroleum products. Updates of GIWW barges passing LI by commodity for March 26, 2023 – June 13, 2023, shows 121 barges passed through our swing bridge. These barges are categorized into highly flammable-76, low flammable-33, and 12 barges carried solids.
LIOA hired Dawson and Associates, a D.C. lobbying firm, for help with getting our U.S. Congress to increase funding for the USACE to initiate the 216 study described above to explore options including use of the original main ship channel around LI, as our PI Ship Channel cannot grow. After LIOA’s May 24 kickoff meeting with Dawson, our retired USACE bridge board volunteer, Gene Washburn, found a small window of opportunity to get the 216 feasibility study funded for fiscal year (FY) 2024. Via contacts between U.S. Representative Vincente Gonzalez’s office and U.S. Senator John Cornyn’s office, Senator Cornyn was able to get our request included in the appropriations packet sent to and due in Congress on May 31. We still need Senator Cornyn to support our request should the funds not be included in the appropriations bill for FY 2024. He can add next year if cut from this year’s appropriations, and that’s why we need Dawson for our lobbyists.
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