City Approves Controversial Transmountain Highway Plan
After months of meetings, El Paso city representatives approved the controversial Transmountain corridor highway plan on Tuesday.
In 2008 El Paso City, County and State leaders approved the comprehensive mobility plan which included connecting Loop 375 and U.S 54. The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) has allocated the money for part of that project which includes a highway in city’s northwest side. The highway is projected to cost $80 million and will be fully funded by the state of Texas with previously appropriated highway money.
TxDot will build a divided highway with four interchanges and frontage roads where traffic is currently one lane in each direction on Transmountain Road between I-10 and the entrance to the Franklin Mountains State Park.
State Rep. Joe Pickett and others have warned that if the city didn’t get on board and approve the project, El Paso was likely to lose the funding.
Wilderness advocates say TxDot’s plan will destroy El Paso’s only scenic corrdor, precious foothills, arroyos and wildlife. TxDot claims that the highway will not have any negative environmental effects.
Representative Susie Byrd has said TxDot put pressure on the City Council to accept the highway instead of what she called equally effective, less corrosive, more cyclist and pedestrian friendly options, such as a boulevard.TxDot insisted their studies show a highway is safer than all other options and will solve mobility problems. The state has also agreed to build hike and bike lanes adjacent to the proposed highway.
Byrd also said TxDot used outdated traffic numbers that overestimated the need for a freeway. She pointed to newer city traffic studies that projected about 30-thousand cars would use that stretch of raod daily, as opposed to the 70-thousand TxDot estimated.
TxDot Engineer Chuck Berry said that even if they used the newest traffic numbers, a freeway would still be needed. As an example, he said that about 30-thousand cars drive through I-10 near the New Mexico and Texas state lines daily and that area faces congestion problems, too.
Council also voted to keep Paseo Del Norte, the most controversial interchange because it’s closest to the mountain – in the plan.
Representatives also agreed to work with TxDot To make the entrance to the Franklin Mountains State Park safer. Both sides agree TxDot’s proposed entrance is too dangerous because motorists would have to cross two lanes of traffic, without a light, to enter the park.
In a related note, a wilderness coalition has begun to gather signatures to petition city council preserve the area around the highway and to prevent any future major road construction near scenic corridors.
Tuesday’s vote was 7 to 1 in favor of the project, with Susie Byrd the lone vote opposed.
