The Tuesday, May 14, 2019 city council agenda has an item on it seeking approval of a resolution that indicates the city’s support for four road projects.
One of them is a project that would connect loop 375 to NM404 at I-10, through what we call the Anthony gap.
The slide evidently came from the Texas department of transportation.
If built the bypass would allow 18 wheelers to bypass I-10 through the city.
This would be better
Brutus
elpasospeak 
When Loop 375 was first proposed all those years ago, it conveniently came out on Montana right where then mayor Jonathan Rogers owned land. In fact, the original proposal was moved several times UNTIL it came out on his land. We should check to see if anyone has any skin in this game before declaring it “better.”
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Even if someone does have a stake in this proposal (and yeah, probably so, this is El Paso) it would be better for the rest of us who have to drive on an adequate I-10 to go anywhere in the city!
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Oops, I meant to say an INADEQUATE 1-10!
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As things presently stand, traffic is already diverted to Loop 375 whenever there is a shut down on I-10. And, for that matter, anyone who wants to avoid I-10 through town can easily take 375 at any time and avoid most of the heaviest traffic. I suspect Old Timer is on to something.
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Big trucks have a hard time using Transmountain, esp when it is windy, so it is not a real subsitute for the diversion proposed here.
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I seem to recall that a major ‘roadblock’ to the notion has been the portion that is located in New Mexico. There is little-to-no economic benefit to spend scarce New Mexico road funds to alleviate traffic issues in El Paso. Traffic counts would remain the same at I-10 and O’Hara, no matter if they originated from the I-10 corridor or through the proposed bypass.
The Regional Mobility Authority would help facilitate a project involving multiple state and federal budgets.
A careful review of the deed records for properties along the proposed bypass, including proximity to the recent land swap (and proposed new self-serving taxing entity) could help explain the renewed interest in this long talked about project, and the probability of it’s success.
Most certainly, this is better.
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You are definitely onto the root cause for the renewed interest in this idea. It is very cagey what Paul Foster and his elected cronies are piecing together.
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There is a reason why billionaires are billionaires and the rest of us pay taxes.
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Former city manager Joyce Wilson is now the chair of the Regional Mobility Authority. Need I say more?
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But wasn’t that what 375 was supposed to do anyway?
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This is an old project from years ago. It’s was El Paso’s initial submission as this area’s first toll road and allowed El Paso to tie down vital, but limited state highway funding. That funding was diverted and allowed this area to leverage funding for completion of Transmountain Road in the Northeast and Westside. It also allowed El Paso to get other much needed road projects started.
TxDOT held community input meetings on this project years ago, plus old newspaper articles indicate this was a priority project for our area. Today the project has been scaled down as you don’t really need a full highway to accomplish what was intended.
Today it’s a scaled down, but adequate project, and I’m damn glad El Paso is finally working on it in increments as funding is available.
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Why were the two different stretches of Stanton Street never connected?
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Bob Bielek, district engineer for for TxDOT, has resigned abruptly and unexpectedly.
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I noticed that. The real question is which issue caused it. It looked like mistakes were made on Mesa by the freeway in terms of turn lanes (they had to repaint and i think I saw a closure next week related to median changes there.) I-10 connect is going to be a nightmare for downtown and I’ll bet he was getting pressure to speed that up, and now we have this redundant project announced. So, the real question is what was the straw that broke the camel’s back?
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