January 5, 2014

Christopher Amy
Texas Department of Transportation
1701 S. Padre Island Drive
Corpus Christi, Texas 78416
HarborBridgeFEIS@urs.com
Dear Mr. Amy:
We are residents of the Hillcrest neighborhood, and we are opposed to the Texas
Department of Transportations plan to build another highway through our neighborhood. Once
again, this transportation project will benefit certain segments of Corpus Christi at the expense of
the safety of Hillcrest residents and the viability of our neighborhood. Corpus Christi residents
deserve to know the truth about how the Harbor Bridge will hurt our neighborhood, and Hillcrest
residents deserve true mitigation for the harms we will suffer.
Instead of listening to the concerns of our neighborhood and studying the actual effects of
the Harbor Bridge on Hillcrest, TxDOT has hosted meetings where a few residents have been
allowed to sit on committees, where the public cannot speak, and where TxDOT officials draft
the agendas. TxDOT does not listen to our community.
TxDOT has refused to evaluate how toxic pollutants will increase in our neighborhood or
what will happen to property values in our neighborhood. TxDOT admits that there will be
increased noise that cannot be reduced and isolation of Hillcrest residents. And TxDOT admits
that the Harbor Bridge would result in adverse effects on minority populations and low-income
populations. To mitigate that harm, TxDOT held a Liveability Summit and proposes to build
a bicycle lane in Hillcrest. A meeting and a bicycle lane do nothing for the residents of Hillcrest.
If the Harbor Bridge is going to be built through our neighborhood, we deserve true
mitigation: a community-led redevelopment plan with funding for those who wish to relocate,
affordable rental housing in other areas of the city, and a plan for Hillcrest that includes buffers
between industry and homes.
Our neighborhood has a long and proud history. Yet, our neighborhood has been
degraded by the creation and growth of the citys industrial district and the Port and TxDOTs
construction of I-37 in late 1950s.
Washington Coles was developed as a segregated neighborhood for African Americans.
Starting in 1948, African Americans were allowed to move into the adjacent Hillcrest
neighborhood. These neighborhoods developed a thriving commercial district and a close-knit
community. No more. We now live surrounded by two large refineries, the fifth largest port in
the country, and a major interstate highway. We have suffered from elevated benzene levels in
our air and groundwater. The pollution emitted by cars, ships, refineries, and petrochemical
factories include substances that have been shown to cause cancer, birth defects, and serious
respiratory illnesses. We live with industrial explosions, fires, noise, bright lights, strange smells,

cancer, and asthma. TxDOT has failed to acknowledge the cumulative effects of this existing air
pollution when studying the emissions from the increased traffic the Harbor Bridge will carry.
Despite this unique history, our concerns have not been seriously considered in the
planning process for the Harbor Bridge. The architects study on the parts of Corpus Christi
that will change dramatically did not focus on Hillcrest. TxDOT admits that the Harbor Bridge
will create a barrier between the newly developed Northside people-oriented area and the Port
and industrial facilities located to the west. This statement ignores the fact that Hillcrest is on
the industry side of the barrier, not on the people-oriented side.
Hillcrest residents deserve a decent place to live. We the people whose lives will be
harmed on a daily basis are opposed to the additional air, light, and noise pollution that will
result from the Harbor Bridge. We worry about how the new pollution will combine with the
toxic air we already breath. We also oppose the isolation of Hillcrest from the people-oriented
side of Corpus Christi and the decrease of property values that will occur in our neighborhood. If
TxDOT decides to proceed with its plans to build another highway through our neighborhood, it
should work with us and regional and national partners to commit to:
1. Funding to purchase the homes of those who want to relocate. Despite our
ties to Hillcrest and our neighbors, our neighborhood is no longer the
community it once was and, instead, the situation is increasingly harmful to
our health and well-being. Mitigation should include sufficient funding to
allow us to purchase comparable homes in other parts of the city.
2. Construction of affordable rental housing in other parts of the city. TxDOT
should coordinate with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development and the City of Corpus Christi to make more affordable housing
available in Corpus Christi so that people are not forced to rent in unsafe areas
because it is the only place they can afford.
3. A neighborhood-led development plan for Hillcrests future. TxDOT, the
City, and planning professionals must work with the residents who want to
remain in our neighborhood to develop a viable plan that:
addresses community concerns about safety, mobility, and economic
development in our neighborhoods; and
celebrates the unique history of the Washington Coles and Hillcrest
neighborhoods.
We expect to meet with TxDOT and other agencies to discuss our concerns. If necessary,
we will ask the courts to require TxDOT to honestly study how the Harbor Bridge will hurt our
neighborhood and to truly mitigate the harm. You may contact us through Erin Gaines at Texas
RioGrande Legal Aid, at 512-374-2739.
Sincerely,