Donna International Bridge upgrades tech ahead of commercial truck expansion as officials wait on Mexico

The board of directors overseeing the Donna–Río Bravo International Bridge approved more than $110,600 this week to improve the port’s technology, with construction on its major $62 million expansion to begin in October. 

The new technology tools — license plate readers and surveillance cameras, in addition to new computer servers — will enable both trucks and passenger vehicles to use a mobile app to pay for crossing, known as iTollz. 

Most international bridges across the Rio Grande Valley with commercial traffic offer a mobile app for payment, but each system differs, unlike an interstate toll system, such as EZ-PASS, that lets drivers cross state lines. 

Construction of the new southbound lane in Donna, which would allow tractor-trailers to be inspected and travel back into Mexico carrying goods, is expected to take at least 18 months and no more than 24 months. 

That’s important because, in the meantime, southbound truck traffic has slowed over the past fiscal year, according to data shared with the board members. 

For example, 55 trucks headed southbound in Mexico used the Donna-Rio Bravo bridge in November 2025. That has dropped precipitously over the summer to a low of just one truck in July. That increased slightly to 5 trucks in August, but the data prompted board members to ask why. 

During the 2025-2026 fiscal year, southbound traffic contributed about $4,600 to bridge operations, with 230 empty southbound truck crossings. 

Donna bridge board members said trucking industry executives told them they are unlikely to use the bridge heading southbound with empty tractor-trailers because trucks earn money only when the cargo container is full. 

Overall, bridge revenue has continued to grow from $2.5 million in fiscal year 2025 to $3.2 million so far in fiscal year 2026, or between October 2025 and August 2026, averaging roughly $9,000 to $10,000 each day in revenue. 

Total southbound crossings at the Donna-Rio Bravo bridge have softened slightly in the past few months from a peak of 67,800 crossings in December 2025 to 57,600 in August 2026. 

Board members questioned why Pharr-Hidalgo International Bridge crossings have recently outpaced the Donna Bridge by roughly 1,000 crossings. The response was the back-to-school crowd, as there’s a cohort of students who reside in Mexico and attend school in the U.S. each day. 

Each day, between 1,800 and 2,000 passenger vehicles cross the Donna Bridge, totaling about 57,600 in August 2026 — down about 3.3% over the year. 

One key element of the bridge expansion is binational cooperation and financing from both the U.S. and Mexican governments. To ease that transition, the city of Donna is donating some infrastructure to the U.S. federal government and has financed much of the project with a bond. 

Donna voters previously approved the city to issue a $45 million revenue bond for commercial expansion efforts to be repaid by bridge tolls. 

The city secured a $35.9 million low-interest loan from the Texas Department of Transportation through the State Infrastructure Bank, and its economic development corporation issued revenue bonds to cover the remaining project debt. 

U.S. Customs and Border Protection also granted the city $11 million to install modern truck inspection technology at the port of entry. 

Donna city officials were bullish that the Mexican state of Tamaulipas, the local leaders of Río Bravo, and economic development executives from the Mexican federal government have committed both in support of the project and are willing to finance their portion of the project — a total which has not yet been disclosed. 

Maricela Gonzales, bridge executive and Donna assistant city manager, said she expects a response from officials in Tamaulipas about a long-awaited diplomatic note this week. This document is shared between the federal governments of Mexico and the U.S.; it’s not publicly available. 

“With the diplomatic note, that would help us get to the next level in the government of Tamaulipas so we can go ahead and discuss [port] financing; that’s the in-person meeting that we’re requesting,” Gonzales said. 

But some Donna city council members were concerned the process isn’t moving fast enough, or at all. 

“We can break ground all we want, but half a bridge isn’t going to do us any good. We need answers [from Mexico]. Are they going to build it? Not going to build it?” Donna Place 3 City Councilman Ernesto Lugo Jr. said.

Lugo Jr. is a local business owner in Donna who operates assisted living facilities. 

Donna officials say the bridge doesn’t require another market feasibility study, which Mexican officials previously suggested, to ensure sufficient future truck traffic to support the investment, according to Donna council members during the meeting. A consultant conducted an investment study on behalf of the city before it went out for municipal bonds. 

There’s already been recent investment on the Mexican side near Laredo in Nuevo Laredo — a massive port — and there appears to be competition to encourage Mexican officials to invest in infrastructure near Matamoros for Brownsville, Rio Bravo near the Donna Bridge, the Pharr International Bridge, and the Anzalduas Bridge, which is jointly owned by McAllen and Mission as well. 

It’s also unclear exactly how much money the Mexican government has available in its budget for border-area port-of-entry stations. 

To keep building out the infrastructure, the city decided to upgrade technology installed about a decade ago. 

“It’s already at the end of life. We need to go ahead and update those servers for operational [purposes] and also for the IT tools implemented with the [iTollz] app,” Gonzales said. “Some of these cameras have been installed since we opened the bridge.” 

The split was roughly $73,000 for the server overhaul and $37,600 for the video and license plate scanners from Mission-based Tele-Pro Communications. The board also approved purchasing two Toyota Tacomas from Toyota of Pharr for roughly $40,000 each, with 4-wheel drive, for bridge executives to travel to the work site. 

McAllen-based RRP Consulting Engineers was hired for the commercial expansion of the Donna Bridge and was recently awarded $307,700 for the project. 

RRP Consulting Engineers worked on the bridge layout and environmental assessment for relocating the Cameron County international rail bridge in recent years, among other projects along the Texas-Mexico border. 

“We have the [bridge expansion] design; it’s been approved [and financed],” said Jesús René Reyna, who holds a PhD in leadership from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley and is the city manager of Donna. 

The bridge design is meant to reduce wait times since there will be dual inspections on the U.S. side of the border. 

“This is a model port. Everything we’re doing here at the port of Donna will be used in future ports. More inspection stations, more technology,” Reyna said. 

That could mean about 100 trucks processed each hour, he said. 

And that is fueling much of the long-promised 1,000-acre Alliance River Crossing development in Donna — a project and Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone by McAllen-based Rhodes Enterprises. The deal was inked about a decade ago, but the lots remain undeveloped because the bridge can’t support truck traffic yet. 

“We’ve had a lot of interest from many investors that want to come in and start building the warehousing — cold storage or dry storage — there’s going to be a lot of opportunity for development out there,” Reyna said. “The city of Donna planned way ahead, and we have all the infrastructure in place. We’ve had lots of conversations with Mexico; they’ve committed to this project, and it’s going to benefit the entire frontera. Once we start building it, they will come.”