Traffic congestion could ease in Peñitas once a seven-mile long road expansion project is complete.

Peñitas city leaders and Hidalgo County Precinct Three crews have been developing the Liberty Road Expansion Project for the last 10 years. 

Once it's finished, the project will offer drivers another route to get to U.S. Highway 83 from Business 83.

Phase one of the project includes widening Liberty Road to four lanes with a continuous turning lane and sidewalks.

“The project is going to connect what is now Business 83 to the new bypass, and from the bypass to the three-mile line,” Peñitas City Manager Beto Garza said.

According to Garza, phase one was originally supposed to cost about $14 million, but the projected cost has since gone up.

Garza said the city was short $4 million for material and labor. The city now has that money thanks to the 2024 Consolidated Appropriations Act.

McAllen Congresswoman Monica De La Cruz voted for the act’s passage.

“As this community is growing… everyone will have the opportunity to use these resources,” De La Cruz said.

Hidalgo County Precinct Three finalized the project's designs in 2023, and construction on phase one of the project is set to start in September 2024 when Peñitas finishes moving their utility lines, and the county secures a construction company.

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