Pedestrian pathway to create new entrance to Ballpark is not delayed, despite what signs say

A new pedestrian pathway expected to improve access to the Downtown Ballpark was supposed to be completed by the end of spring.

But the $6.5 million project is far from completion.

ABC-7 has new information from the City of El Paso’s engineering and construction department.

“The $6.5 million pedestrian pathway project, which stretches from the Durango Street bridge all the way over to Arts Festival Plaza, is being funded by the 2012 Quality of Life Bond,” said Martin Bartlett, spokesman for the City of El Paso.

He said its easy to see why a sign near the project, stating a completion date of spring of 2014, might give the wrong impression that the pedestrian pathway should already be completed.

“This week, we’re actually updating that signage in order to reflect a more holistic view of the entire project,” said Bartlett, who pointed to the summer of 2015 for the project completion. “At the end of the day, what they are going to create is one cohesive pedestrian experience from one side of Downtown to the other.”

The pedestrian pathway is expected to incorporate a new entrance and exit into Southwest University Park.

“Starting (Tuesday), the City of El Paso is actually going out and beginning the work of trying to find contractors to build these overhead pedestrian crossings,” Bartlett said.

The $2.7 million needed for the new ballpark walkup is separate and coming from the Texas Department of Transportation. It should relieve some of the congestion fans have seen exiting the ballpark.

“The Ballpark is an amazing addition to Downtown,” said Heather Cuthbertson, who was Downtown buying tickets for an upcoming game on Monday. “but there’s something to be said for the final project and things really meshing the way that they’re supposed to go and making the flow work.”