Mr.

Kyle Madsen
Texas Department of Transportation
Right-of-Way Division
125 East 11th St.
Austin, TX 78701

February 24, 2021

Dear Mr. Madsen,

The replacement and realignment of the Harbor Bridge represents a truly singular opportunity for
greater Corpus Christi. In a compelling display of unity, local jurisdictions convened in June of 2019 to
define a strategy for collaborative redevelopment of the current bridge right-of-way (ROW). That initial
meeting yielded a series of objectives and a collective decision to codify our shared mission under the
auspice of the Harbor Bridge ROW Coalition (Coalition).

The Coalition has met two additional times since its inception and has realized multiple milestones,
including facilitating the delineation of ROW ownership by the TxDOT Corpus Christi District (CRP)
(delivered January, 2020) and shepherding adoption of a multi-party resolution in support of the
Coalition by the City of Corpus Christi (City), Nueces County (County), and Port of Corpus Christi
Authority (Port). The Coalition has communicated proactively with TxDOT-CRP leadership at every step.

The City, County, and Port have undertaken individual—but coordinated and complementary—planning
efforts in the name of placemaking and economic development within the space to be created by
demolition of the existing bridge, which falls within a federally designated Opportunity Zone. The
Coalition has proven an effective forum through which to coordinate these planning efforts and to
define individual jurisdiction’s priorities for ROW acquisition and redevelopment.

However, local jurisdictions must have clarity and certainty around the ultimate fate of target portions
of ROW in order to transition to detailed design and be shovel ready for redevelopment at the time of
Bridge demolition.

To this end, by way of this correspondence, the Coalition requests that the State:
1. Declare surplus, to be effective upon completion of Bridge demolition, priority portions of the
state-owned Harbor Bridge ROW as depicted in the attached, consensus exhibit.
2. Establish agreements with local jurisdictions, to be effective post-demolition, for fee simple/no
cost deed transfers (per provisions in Ch. 202 of Transportation Code) of target portions of the
ROW.

Simply put, deferring the start of ROW evaluation until after completion of the new Harbor Bridge and
demolition of the old—particularly in light of multi-year project delays—would stymie local planning
efforts and would result in years of lost opportunity and economic development for our community.

The City of Corpus Christi, Nueces County, and the Port of Corpus Christi Authority are in full alignment
and look forward to an open and productive collaboration with TxDOT to realize the full potential of this
extraordinary opportunity.

Thank you very much for your time.

V/R,

Signed: Canales; Guajardo, Zahn

Cc: full leg. delegation; James Bass; Marc Williams, P.E.; Valente Olivarez, Jr., P.E.