Thousands of people cross the Gateway International Bridge in Brownsville daily. Cameron County officials are hoping to make the process smoother for travelers.

On Wednesday, The White House announced Cameron County was granted a Presidential permit to build a pedestrian bridge at the Gateway International Bridge in Brownsville that would connect the city with Matamoros.

“Those frequent pedestrians that are coming and going on a daily basis — teachers, students, whatever the case may be — we’ll be able to get them cleared on a much quicker basis,” Cameron County Judge Eddie Treviño said. 

Cameron County applied for the permit in 2024. The next step in the approval process is an environmental review that could start in September 2025.

Once the pedestrian bridge has been built, the current bridge will only be used for asylum seekers. The UETA duty-free store near the international bridge would be knocked down as part of the construction of the pedestrian bridge.

The bridge will be manned by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Treviño said he also believes with CBP focusing their resources on two separate bridges, traffic will increase.

"A lot of our focus has been on border security. What can't get lost in the conversation is the importance of cross border trade and having more people being able to come and go is gonna be beneficial for both sides of the border,” Treviño said.

People who use the bridge often said they are looking forward to getting across faster.

The federal government is also getting ready to invest $230 million to upgrade the Gateway International Bridge. It’s an investment Cameron County officials said they hope helps streamline the environmental process for the new pedestrian bridge.

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