Population Boom?: Texas leads the nation

“We need this traffic, we need this traffic, we need this traffic… congestion.”

That’s what I tell myself while waiting at the numerous stop lights now dotting Hidalgo County. What used to be smooth sailing down most Valley roadways through at least the early 2000s has now turned into congested space, and for impatient people like me, that’s a problem.

Actually, even the early 2000s was maybe double the traffic what it was here in the 1980s, but compared to today, driving around Hidalgo County now takes a big dose of patience behind the wheel, of which I have very little.

This traffic congestion is good for the local economy, though. It means that there are plenty of people around who can help keep local businesses afloat, police departments busy.

The driver in front of me, a him, her, can’t tell, is texting and doesn’t notice that I’m honking my horn — the turn signal is still green, and there are no more cars headed in our direction, so why doesn’t the car in front of me move?

Rhetorical question — it’s because the clueless driver is texting something.

“And the lawyer did say that it’s legal to open a casino in Progreso?”

Then, just as the stop light turns yellow, he/ she/it decides to press the accelerator, making it through the intersection, leaving me behind stuck at yet another red stop light.

Thankfully, I have a relaxing podcast playing over the truck’s speakers: “Just let your mind relax. Breathe in, breathe out. Do you feel that tension start to subside?”

No.

“Keep breathing and focus on the NOW.”

I can tell I’m losing it when I start to talk back to the podcast:

“How ‘bout you take your relaxation techniques and shove them….”

“Breathe in, breathe out. Stay in the moment.”

I’m in the moment all right. Why? Because I’m now stuck at another stop light, and the line in front of me looks like it takes up all of Nolana between at least McColl and Second.

No Commute Time?

For seasoned drivers in the RGV, there used to be no such thing as “commute time.” There was no rushhour traffic. Now, if you’re not parked by 4, there’s a lot of traffic about to come your way.

Even the mornings are something else. Recently, I was driving down Monte Cristo Rd. at approximately 6:45 a.m., headed west from Edinburg. This was on a Saturday, not a weekday, and I looked at the traffic build up around me and thought — we need this congestion because it’s good for business, good for developers.

Which is true.

To a large degree, the county’s planners, the cities’ planners, the regional and state planners all need a pat on the back because in many ways, they have been keeping up with the growth in Hidalgo County, as opposed to waiting until it’s too late to expand existing roadways, build new ones. It’s just that the population has outpaced roadway construction. Plus, the pandemic didn’t help.

When the Pharr/Edinburg interchange is finally completed, that will help improve things.

In a lot of ways, I’m glad I’m old enough to remember “the old days,” when Valley traffic was nothing compared to what it is now. When I first landed here in 1979, the county’s population was less than 290,000, and you could drive in all directions without running into roadway congestion. Morning, noon, and night, didn’t matter.

Today, this county’s population is close to a million.

It’s all a matter of mental adjustment and learning how to not get impatient, especially since I saw a news story recently that cited the U.S. Census Bureau, which said that Texas’ population surpassed 31 million people within the last year as the state added more residents than any other state in the country.

The joy.

In fact, Texas added 562,941 residents between July 2023 and July 2024, census estimates show — ahead of Florida and California. That growth brought the state’s total population to 31,290,831. (Source: TexasTribune.org.)

So if you get frustrated with today’s traffic congestion across Hidalgo County, the good news is, new roadways will help relieve it. Some. Only thing you can do is find a relaxing podcast and learn how to breathe in, breathe out.

“Screw that feel-good psychobabble. Why can’t I just ram the car in front of me? Teach him not to text while stuck at a traffic light. Moron.”

No, that would land you in jail, and your insurance rates would go up.

Okay. Sure. I’m all for rooting for local businesses, local developers, but can’t we do it with the way Valley roadways used to be — free of traffic congestion?

Nope.

In fact, when a once relatively small town/city like Alton is exploding with regard to population growth, it’s safe to say that the traffic congestion across Hidalgo County isn’t going to slow down any time soon.

Or the rest of the RGV for that matter.