Feds asked to investigate TxDOT over delays to Harbor Bridge mitigation for Hillcrest

Organizations representing Northside neighborhoods impacted by the new Harbor Bridge construction are asking the federal government to investigate — and possibly take punitive action against — the Texas Department of Transportation.

Lawyers with Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, a nonprofit that has represented residents in the majority Black and Hispanic neighborhood of Hillcrest, sent a complaint to the U.S. Department of Transportation on Feb. 1, claiming TxDOT has failed to make improvements the state agency promised more than eight years ago.

The complaint contends TxDOT has not complied with the terms of a voluntary agreement it entered with the Federal Highway Administration in December 2015. The agreement included commitments by TxDOT to develop T.C. Ayers and H.J. Williams parks and a site where Booker T. Washington Elementary once stood.

"In many ways, Hillcrest is worse off than it was prior to government involvement, but in every way, it is in a worse position (than) it would be in if TxDOT complied with the agreement," the 11-page complaint by TRLA attorneys Karis Adams and Jennifer Richards reads.

The complaint comes as most of Hillcrest's residents have left the neighborhood, opting into a Port of Corpus Christi-run land acquisition and relocation program created as a result of a civil rights complaint against the bridge project. Last year, the city estimated that 150 households — down from 500 in 2015 — remained in Hillcrest.

Last year, the Caller-Times interviewed dozens of current and former Hillcrest residents about the outcomes of the port's relocation program. In large part, residents remaining in Hillcrest said the hollowing out of the neighborhood has made living there untenable. Many who relocated reported mixed results, citing higher property taxes and a loss of community.

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Continued failure to enforce the agreement by TxDOT "actively enables discrimination against minority persons" and is a "continuous violation" of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The complaint calls for the federal department to investigate TxDOT’s failure to comply, oversee its enforcement and take action against noncompliant parties.

Actions to implement the promised improvements remain ongoing, said Rickey Dailey, a TxDOT spokesperson, in a statement. Per a subsequent four-party agreement between TxDOT and local governmental entities, Dailey said, the improvements must be completed by the time the bridge project is "completed and open to the public."

"TxDOT fully intends to meet this deadline," the statement reads.

The opening of the bridge is years behind. Construction for the nearly $1 billion bridge project started in 2016 with a 2020 completion date, but a mid-project design firm switch and design disputes pushed the estimated completion to 2025.

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Enough time has passed that progress should have been made, said Adams, one of the TRLA attorneys.

"It has been eight years, and nothing has been done. (The project) has not been delayed this whole time," she told the Caller-Times Monday.

The Federal Highway Administration and TxDOT struck the voluntary agreement after a federal civil rights investigation, requested by Hillcrest residents with the help of TRLA, found the project and the new bridge's proposed path would have disproportionate impacts on the communities based on race, including isolation from the rest of Corpus Christi and noise pollution.

The city of Corpus Christi, through an agreement with TxDOT, is charged with making some of the improvements. "TxDOT continues to work closely with and oversee the actions of the city to achieve the mitigation commitments for the parks and school site," the TxDOT statement reads.

The complaint contends delays to the city's improvements are a result of TxDOT's failure to enact appropriate oversight. "TxDOT owes a duty to the FHWA under the agreement, to ensure that the city as the delegatee, performs its delegated duties. TxDOT has failed to do so," it reads.

Delays to the bridge construction have stymied the process for the city's contributions, City Manager Peter Zanoni told the Caller-Times Monday. More than $6 million is set aside from a 2014 bond and Corpus Christi Metropolitan Planning Organization funds for the relevant improvements, he added, though he expects more funding will be needed.

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The City Council hired an engineering firm, Halff & Associates, in 2021 to develop plans for parks for which TxDOT promised improvements. Zanoni estimated the Corpus Christi firm, sometime in the next 60 days, will engage neighborhood residents to garner feedback on the proposed improvements.

TRLA's complaint comes as a civil rights investigation by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is underway in Hillcrest. That investigation, which began in December and remained underway this week, pertains to the city's plans to build a marine desalination facility in the neighborhood.

This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Complaint: TxDOT has not completed Harbor Bridge mitigation for Hillcrest