Puerto Verde is the largest proposed project in this corridor by acreage and by permit scope. Widening an existing bridge improves throughput on an existing route. A new crossing twenty miles north, with its own rail, its own toll corridor and hundreds of hectares of industrial land attached, relocates the map.
It is also the project where the public record and the local reality diverge most sharply. I have watched this one from the ground floor since it surfaced, and what follows is only what is documented. Where the record is silent, I say so.
What is proposed
Per the developer, Puerto Verde would deliver:
- Six vehicular lanes purpose-built for commercial traffic
- Two rail bridges, offering competitive dual service between BNSF and Union Pacific — letting shippers price one carrier against the other
- A 20-mile toll corridor serving both road and rail
- A bypass reducing a 40-minute detour to 14 minutes
- Simultaneous joint U.S.–Mexico inspection rather than sequential
- A projected 40% increase in logistics capacity
- Positioning as the first crossing on the U.S.–Mexico border to operate 24 hours for cargo
Who actually holds the permit
This is widely misreported. The Presidential Permit of 31 May 2024, published at 89 FR 48247 on 5 June 2024, names Maverick County, Texas as the permittee. Puerto Verde Holdings is the developer and applied on the County's behalf as project sponsor.
The distinction matters because the public entity carries the obligations — including the funding plans, the diplomatic-notes condition and the five-year expiry.
The Mexican side is funded and moving
On the Coahuila side the project has been designated strategically important within Plan México and the northern Polos del Bienestar, with Banobras — Mexico's national infrastructure development bank — directing implementation under a 51% public / 49% private mixed-investment structure. Reported investment is 4 billion pesos, with over 700 hectares designated as a border industrial park on the Piedras Negras–Nava conurbation. Mexico has separately pledged $300 million. Construction was slated to begin in 2026 with operations targeted 2027.
The Ruta 57 expansion is designated an emblematic priority project within a federal highway program of 397.046 billion pesos, explicitly incorporating new border crossings including Puerto Verde. See the Southwest Texas trade corridor for how that connects to Coahuila's manufacturing base.
The 65% county stake is not what the headlines say
On 26 March 2026, Maverick County and Puerto Verde Holdings signed a Memorandum of Understanding, placed on the Commissioners Court agenda 20 April 2026. Read the instrument rather than the coverage:
- The MOU states in capitals that it "DOES NOT CREATE LEGAL OR FINANCIAL OBLIGATIONS."
- The County "intends to participate" at not less than 65% of bridge and toll ownership — subject to an investment-grade valuation study by an independent firm that has not been completed, acquired incrementally, funded by grants, bonds and TIRZ revenues.
- Puerto Verde Holdings remains Managing Member with day-to-day operational authority. The County's voting authority is limited to reserved governance rights — sale, dissolution, material scope changes.
- PVH retains fee title to the land port of entry site, the private access roadway, and all surrounding logistics, rail and industrial components.
It is a non-binding statement of intent, with the valuation still to come, the private developer retaining control, and the public partner taking the debt.
Congress exempted the bridge from environmental review
This is the most underpriced item in the project, and it is a matter of statute.
33 U.S.C. §535d, enacted by the FY2024 National Defense Authorization Act (Pub. L. 118-31, §5414, 22 December 2023), names "an international bridge in Maverick County, Texas" as an eligible applicant and provides that "notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary shall not require" the applicant to submit NEPA documents or "to have completed any environmental review… prior to the President granting a Presidential permit." It also sets a 60-day-plus-60-day shot clock, after which the permit "shall be considered to have been granted."
The U.S. State Department declined cooperating-agency status on the related rail Environmental Impact Statement. The Surface Transportation Board analyzed the truck facility but stated on the record that it "lacks the jurisdiction to require mitigation for that facility."
The obligation was not removed. §535d(f)(3) preserves it and the permit itself requires NEPA mitigation prior to construction. It was deferred — which means an unquantified environmental review still stands between this project and a shovel.
What still has to happen before U.S. construction
- Five funding plans approved by CBP, GSA and DOT, plus IBWC concurrence — required before design activities
- Completion of an exchange of diplomatic notes with the Government of Mexico; the permit expressly bars construction until State provides that notification
- NEPA compliance for the bridge, deferred per §535d
- USCG bridge permit, USACE and IBWC authorizations
- A pending Presidential Permit amendment to incorporate the GSA lease for the U.S. land port of entry and designate 24/7 operations
- On the rail side, traffic agreements with Union Pacific and BNSF that are not in place — see Green Eagle Railroad
- The permit expires 31 May 2029 if construction has not commenced.
Texas HB 74 (89R), which would have created a Puerto Verde Port Authority District over 3,322.57 acres with bond, tax, assessment and limited eminent-domain powers, died in Senate Transportation Committee in May 2025. No such district exists.
The political overhang
A project this dependent on one county's balance sheet is only as durable as that county's leadership, and that changed in 2026.
County Judge Ramsey English Cantú, the project's leading public champion, was temporarily suspended from office on 4 May 2026 by a state district court pending a removal trial under Chapter 87 of the Texas Local Government Code. He then lost the Democratic primary runoff 34% to 66% on 26 May 2026 to Commissioner Gerardo "Jerry" Morales, who abstained on the County's July 2023 endorsement resolution and has since said publicly that he "will not support a private investor that's gonna come into town at the cost of our residents." Morales faces Republican candidate Ruben J. Camarillo in the general election on 3 November 2026; Camarillo has not published a position on the crossing that we could source. The runoff margin is as reported by the Maverick County Elections Administration and carried in regional coverage; it should be confirmed against the certified canvass before it is relied upon.
Separately, the City of Eagle Pass voted unanimously on 7 April 2026 to tell the Surface Transportation Board that it "has not entered and will not enter into an MOU with Puerto Verde Holdings."
None of this makes the project illegitimate. It means the 65% commitment is non-binding, unvalued, and was made by a commissioners court whose leader has since been suspended and defeated.
Common questions
Who holds the Puerto Verde Presidential Permit?
Maverick County, Texas is the permittee under the Presidential Permit of 31 May 2024 (89 FR 48247). Puerto Verde Holdings is the developer and applied on the County’s behalf as project sponsor.
Did Maverick County buy 65% of Puerto Verde?
No. A Memorandum of Understanding dated 26 March 2026 states the County "intends to participate" at not less than 65%, but the MOU states expressly that it creates no legal or financial obligations, the valuation study is outstanding, and Puerto Verde Holdings remains Managing Member.
Did Puerto Verde require an environmental impact study?
Not before the permit. 33 U.S.C. §535d barred the State Department from requiring NEPA documents or a completed environmental review prior to the President granting the permit. NEPA compliance is deferred to before construction, not eliminated.
When would Puerto Verde open?
Mexico targets 2027 operations on its side. On the U.S. side no construction has begun, and the Presidential Permit expires 31 May 2029 if construction has not commenced.
Does Puerto Verde include a railroad?
Yes. The proposal includes two rail bridges with competitive BNSF and Union Pacific service. The U.S. rail connection is the Green Eagle Railroad, approved by the Surface Transportation Board in April 2026 but not yet financed.
Sources. Presidential Permit of 31 May 2024, 89 FR 48247; Maverick County Commissioners Court agenda and MOU backup (20 April 2026); City of Eagle Pass Council minutes (7 May 2024, 7 April 2026); Surface Transportation Board Docket FD 36652 (decided 22 April 2026); Draft EIS (14 March 2025) and Final EIS (6 August 2025); 33 U.S.C. §535d / Pub. L. 118-31 §5414; Mexico Industry (2026); Zócalo (2026); Expansión Obras (March 2026); Houston Chronicle (27 July 2026); KSAT (7 May 2026); Texas Legislature HB 74 (89R). Verified as of August 2026; project statuses change and every figure should be re-verified before it is relied upon.