Divided Council Approves Controversial Extension Project
EL PASO, TX – A strongly divided City Council approved the plan to extend Lee Trevino drive from North Loop to the Border Highway despite heavy opposition from some area residents.
The plan to extend the street has generated opposition from homeowners whose properties would have to be seized by the city through eminent domain. Proponents of the plan believe the extension will help alleviate traffic congestion problems in the area.
Last week, City Representative Alejandro Lozano proposed a plan that will only affect about a dozen properties. Earlier versions of the plan would have affected over 100 properties.
Although the plan has been approved, city officials tell ABC-7 there is still a long road ahead for the project.The plan still needs to get approved by the Metropolitan Planning Organization, they said.
Another major hurdle in the way of the extension is the issueof land belonging to the Tigua Indian Reservation, officials added. In order for the plan to go through, the federal government would also have to seize the land from the tribe through eminent domain.
The vote on theextension was split right down the middle, with Mayor John Cook’s vote breaking the tie. Cook tells ABC-7 the city is willing to negotiate with the Tiguas, who were in attendance at Tuesday’s council meeting to express their opposition to the plan. “We can still bend the road so it goes around culturally sensitive properties. Especially, if the Tiguas will tell us what those culturally sensitive properties are,” said Cook.
Lozano, who re-proposed the extension, along with Representatives Eddie Holguin, Melina Castro and Rachel Quintana, voted against the plan. “I think we should do the right thing and the right thing is to honor and respect their wishes. Until we have a better compromise, I move to deny this route,” said Lozano.
Tigua Governor Art Senclair clearly stated his council will not negotiate with the city in regards to the land andexpressed his disappointment that fellow El Pasoans, whoknow the importance of the land to the tribe,voted in favor ofthe extension. “I don’t mind fighting these arguments in Austin because they don’t know the area or thecity…but to have to fight these arguments here within my own city, I really don’t have a comment,” he said, “I’m extremely, extremely, extremely disappointed.”
The Tigua Indian Tribe, which arrived in the Lower Valley around the year 1680, became a recognized American Indian Tribe in 1968. The tribe was awarded their current land after the city annexed a large portion of the Lower Valley, including Ysleta, in the 1950’s.
