Every conversation I have with capital looking at Eagle Pass eventually arrives at the same sentence: "but they are doubling the bridge." They are trying to. The permit is real, the design contract is signed, and the State of Coahuila has already completed its half of the port of entry — though the bridge span itself is unbuilt on both banks.
What has not happened is construction. Not a contract, not a notice to proceed, not a yard of dirt on the Texas side. If you are pricing land on this expansion, you are pricing a 2029 event at the earliest, and you should know exactly why.
What the expansion is
The Camino Real International Bridge — Bridge II — opened in 1999 and is the only crossing at Eagle Pass that inspects commercial vehicles. The bridge deck carries six lanes across 1,384 feet, 82 feet wide, with two six-foot pedestrian sidewalks.
The expansion would build a second span adjacent to the existing bridge carrying six additional vehicle lanes, taking the crossing to twelve. That is the scope authorized in the Presidential Permit.
The permit
The Presidential Permit was signed 20 June 2025 and published in the Federal Register on 26 June 2025 at 90 FR 27435. It authorizes the City of Eagle Pass to expand, maintain and operate the crossing, and it requires that construction begin within five years.
The City had submitted its application for the permit amendment in November 2024, having engaged LJA in July 2024 at $1.53 million to prepare it.
The design award
The City issued RFQ #2025-028 for design services. The evaluation committee scored LJA at 568 out of 600, ahead of RRP Construction at 528 and Ardurra at 440, and recommended award to LJA.
On 9 September 2025, Council moved to reject that recommendation and rebid. The motion was amended and tabled. On 16 September 2025, Council awarded the contract to LJA.
The negotiated design fee has never been made public. This was a qualifications-based selection under Texas Government Code Chapter 2254, meaning the City Manager was authorized to negotiate the fee after award. No amount appears in the agenda, the packet, or any later posting. Two figures circulate that are different contracts and should not be substituted: the $1.53 million permit-application engagement from July 2024, and a $710,000 amendment approved in February 2026 covering the Donation Acceptance Program and preliminary design.
The realignment that has to happen first
This is the part that determines the timeline, and it is routinely left out of coverage.
Before any expansion work can begin, the City must complete an approach-roadway realignment. It was announced in April 2024 at $19.5 million with construction "anticipated to commence in October 2024" and completion in 2026.
The project's Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation registration — TABS2026006714, "Camino Real Approach Roadway Realignment," owner City of Eagle Pass — recorded an estimated cost of $23,000,000 with a start of 6 March 2026. The same work was then re-registered on 10 August 2026 as TABS2026027376 — owner United States of America (GSA), $10,037,263 — with construction scheduled 2 August 2027 to 2 October 2028 and the design firm listed as “Not Assigned.” The corresponding TxDOT project (CSJ 0922-10-042, $24.6 million) is set to let in November 2027. Against an original announcement of construction beginning in October 2024, the prerequisite to the expansion has now slipped roughly thirty-four months.
The City's own published sequencing, as of December 2025: the realignment takes one and a half to two years, and only once it is complete does expansion work start, taking a further two to three years.
The current target: October 2029
Following a binational meeting in Eagle Pass on 29 May 2026, Coahuila government statements put the goal at six new lanes by October 2029 at an estimated $60 million, plus two new inspection booths in Eagle Pass at $5 million and a pilot program limiting Bridge II cargo crossing to 8 a.m. to noon.
In April 2026, after a binational meeting in Washington, the Mayor of Eagle Pass stated that execution dates and total investment amounts had not yet been defined.
What Mexico has already done
Piedras Negras and the State of Coahuila reported their side of the project 96% complete in September 2024, with the ruta fiscal and Bridge II works at 95% in October 2024 on roughly 1.5 billion pesos of federal investment. By September 2025 the Piedras Negras customs modernization was reported operationally ready pending minor technical details.
On 11 February 2026 Coahuila broke ground on the Ruta Fiscal expansion: Phase 1 of 5, 100 million pesos, 1.2 kilometres, widening to as many as eight lanes on the approach, inside a five-phase program of roughly 8 kilometres and over 500 million pesos.
To be precise, because it matters: the six new lanes over the river exist on neither side. Mexico is reported to have completed its port of entry — 96% complete in September 2024 and operationally ready by September 2025 — and is building its approach roads. NOT FOUND: any completion ceremony or agency notice. It has not built half a bridge.
What this means if you are buying land
Ground bought today on the strength of this expansion should be underwritten to a benefit that arrives at the end of this decade, not the middle of it — and to a schedule whose preliminary work has already slipped roughly thirty-four months from its announced start and has not begun.
That does not make the expansion a bad thesis. It makes it a carry thesis. See carrying costs for border land for the arithmetic, and the Puerto Verde guide for the competing crossing that would reroute freight north of the city entirely.
Back to the overview: the Eagle Pass port of entry.
Common questions
How many lanes will the Camino Real bridge have after expansion?
Twelve. The Presidential Permit authorizes six additional vehicle lanes in a second span adjacent to the existing six-lane bridge.
When did the Camino Real expansion get its Presidential Permit?
The permit was signed 20 June 2025 and published in the Federal Register on 26 June 2025 (90 FR 27435). It requires construction to begin within five years.
Has construction started on the Camino Real expansion?
No U.S.-side construction on the bridge expansion had been reported as of August 2026. A $23 million approach-roadway realignment must be completed first. It was re-registered on 10 August 2026 (TDLR TABS2026027376, owner GSA, $10,037,263) with construction scheduled from 2 August 2027 to 2 October 2028, and the corresponding TxDOT project lets in November 2027.
How much will the Camino Real expansion cost?
Coahuila government statements in May 2026 put the estimate at roughly $60 million for the six new lanes, plus $5 million for two new inspection booths in Eagle Pass. The City has not published the negotiated design fee.
Is the Mexican side of the Camino Real bridge finished?
The Piedras Negras port of entry is essentially complete — reported 96% in September 2024 and operationally ready by September 2025. Coahuila began a five-phase approach-road expansion in February 2026. The new lanes over the river are built on neither side.
Sources. Federal Register 90 FR 27435 (26 June 2025); City of Eagle Pass Council agendas and evaluation packet, RFQ #2025-028 (9 and 16 September 2025); TDLR TABS2026006714; Eagle Pass Business Journal (April 2024, November 2024, December 2025, September 2025); El Tiempo Monclova (April 2026); El Heraldo de Saltillo and POSTA (29 May 2026); Zócalo (September and October 2024); El Financiero (September 2025); La Prensa de Coahuila and Contrapunto (February 2026); TxDOT (2001). Verified as of August 2026; project statuses change and every figure should be re-verified before it is relied upon.