Closures and construction in West El Paso affecting emergency responders

Closures and construction in West El Paso is affecting pedestrians, drivers and even emergency responders.

A busy stretch of Paisano was shut down Monday. It will remain that way until late winter to allow crews to work faster on the Border West Expressway, forcing drivers to take I-10 or Mesa.

Drivers ABC-7 spoke with said traffic has worsened on Mesa, especially during rush hours. Getting around the congestion is increasingly worse for emergency response crews.

“It’s affected us greatly, it slows down our transports and backs us up and it’s a big risk too, it’s a liability if we’re not careful. The traffic jam hurts us and sets us back on our calls,” Elite Medical Transport EMT Gabriel Lawler said.

Lawler is an EMT for Elite Medical Transportation.He says more construction means he and his crews are under even more pressure to keep patients alive.

“We have to spend more time making sure our patient continues to be stable and we get them there in the best timely manner we can.”

When I -10 and Paisano are too congested, crews will oftentimes use Glory Road or Mesa but with closures on both, Lawler says they’re running out of options.

“Those are the two main ones we use all the time but there’s really no other option.”

“At the end of the day, one street cannot handle the freeway and plus another major corridor’s traffic. It’s difficult,” City’s Streets & Maintenance Department Director Ted Marquez said.

Marquez says when notified of construction projects, they provide emergency responders with alternate routes, even creating corridors for them to get through. They also adjust traffic lights. Marquez says traffic lights are synchronized and crews re-calibrate the lights when there is a major change like construction of the opening of a major new restaurant or business.

“There’s signals on Mesa have a mechanism in which they respond to emergency vehicles, so they provide them additional green time, so we clear them out so they can get through. It works all day 24/7,” Marquez said.

Marquez says they try to do the best they can but in the meantime, he’s asking for drivers to let crews get their job done.

“There’s a lot of people that are really rude and don’t give us the right of way they don’t realize one day it could be your family member it could be someone you love that we have to care for,” Lawler said.

El Paso Police tell Abc-7 they get notifications on projects ahead of time and haven’t noted any significant problems in terms of safety, with the increased traffic in West El Paso.