Archeological Survey of Frontera Road from 109 Linear Feet South of the Union Pacific Railroad Tracks to Alderete Lane, Del Rio, Val Verde County, Texas
On March 18-20, 2019, AmaTerra Environmental, Inc. (AmaTerra) carried out an intensive survey, as described in 13 TAC 26.20 and defined in 13 TAC 26.5. Joel B. Butler acted as the principal investigator, Sara Parkin as field director, and Jessica Kenmore as field technician. 48 person-hours were expended during fieldwork, 17 shovel tests, and 10 backhoe trenches were excavated in support of the survey. Val Verde County, in cooperation with the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) Laredo District proposes to widen and make improvements to Frontera Road from 109 linear feet (LF) south of the Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR) tracks to Aldrete Lane in the City of Del Rio in Val Verde County, Texas. This project is assigned CSJ no. 0922-11-032 and the archeological survey was carried out under Antiquities Permit 8733. The total project length is four kilometers (2.5 miles), with a total Area of Potential Effects (APE) of 27.3 acres including 3.9 acres of proposed temporary maintenance easement within property administered by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) along the U.S. Border Fence. The remainder of the APE is entirely within existing road right-of-way (ROW). The project is subject to Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (Section 106) and the Antiquities Code of Texas (ACT) because it will involve land to be controlled by a political subdivision of the State of Texas, with funding from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). During field investigations, 17 shovel tests and ten backhoe trenches were excavated, none of which contained archeological materials. No archeological sites were documented within the APE. One previously recorded site (412VV1714) was visited but not relocated. No further archeological work is warranted, and construction is recommended to proceedfor the project area. All land surveyed was located on publicly-owned property. No artifacts were collected during investigations. All notes and forms generated during fieldwork will be curated at the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory (TARL) in Austin.
