Drivers navigating the streets around the Hidalgo County Courthouse in downtown Edinburg are still waiting on a roundabout project that was supposed to break ground back in 2023. TxDOT now says the roundabout project is expected to cost $34 million, with construction not starting until January 2028 at the earliest — a delay of roughly five years from the original schedule.
According to MySA, TxDOT announced the latest setback at an Edinburg Rotary Club meeting, telling residents the agency now plans to begin construction on the U.S. Business 281/Texas 107 roundabout project no earlier than January 2028. That figure is at odds with another timeline circulating for the same project: krgv.com has reported the total cost at $34.5 million, with construction expected to start in the summer or fall of 2027 and wrap up by the end of 2029. The two accounts don't agree on either the price tag or the start date, and the available record doesn't resolve which projection is current.
TxDOT plans to turn the intersection into what's been described as an oversized roundabout, with wider lanes, roomier shoulders and better sidewalks, reconstructing roughly a one-mile stretch of SH 107 — also known as Texas 107 — from the courthouse east to the Interstate 69-C junction, which is also known as U.S. 281. The project would also touch U.S. Business 281, locally known as Closner Boulevard, where it intersects with Texas 107 at Courthouse Square.
A Crash-Prone Square Years in the Making
The stretch around the courthouse has a documented safety problem. Per MySA, the project site recorded 654 crashes between 2010 and 2017, with about two-thirds of those happening at intersections, and Courthouse Square has had an accident rate higher than both county and statewide averages. Today, drivers passing through the area face eight separate traffic signals, a tangle that TxDOT's planned overhaul is meant to simplify.
The intersection's current layout is itself a temporary fix. TxDOT changed the traffic flow so that vehicles travel counterclockwise around the courthouse in an effort to reduce congestion and accident risk, but the current pattern is temporary and incomplete, according to MySA's reporting. The roundabout project was initially scheduled to begin construction in 2023, with TxDOT previously projecting a spring 2023 start — a timeline that has since slipped by years.
Drainage Fixes Aimed at a Flood-Prone Stretch
Beyond traffic flow, the project is also meant to tackle chronic flooding along the corridor. TxDOT plans to improve and expand drainage along the construction route, which runs through a floodplain, per MySA. The agency told krgv.com that the design now includes a drainage line running through the center of University Drive to just east of I-69C, intended to move stormwater away from the area — a detail aimed squarely at a stretch of downtown Edinburg that has struggled with both flooding and traffic for years.
Once construction begins, drivers should expect disruption. The krgv.com report states that traffic signals at the four corners surrounding the courthouse will be removed, with the exception of those at Closner Boulevard and University Drive, which will remain in place. During construction, University Drive will be reduced to one lane in each direction, a squeeze that will likely test patience in a downtown corridor already known for its crash history.
Multiple Agencies, One Long-Delayed Fix
The project isn't a single-agency effort. TxDOT, the city of Edinburg, Hidalgo County and the Rio Grande Valley Metropolitan Planning Organization are all involved, according to krgv.com's reporting — a coordination load that may help explain why the timeline has proven so difficult to pin down. TxDOT has said the project's design phase is about 95 percent complete, though that doesn't appear to have locked in a construction date, given the conflicting figures TxDOT has reportedly given to different outlets.
The backdrop to all of this is the new Hidalgo County Courthouse itself, a seven-story building that opened for business on March 31, 2025, after construction began in 2019. The new courthouse was built adjacent to the county's previous courthouse, which dates to 1954, and it now bisects Texas 107 and U.S. Business 281 at Courthouse Square in downtown Edinburg. For now, the goal that TxDOT has described — making the commute easier and safer for those in downtown Edinburg — remains a work in progress, with residents left watching for whichever start date actually materializes.
