Two more El Paso neighborhoods getting traffic circles
More roundabouts are coming to some El Paso neighborhood streets in the near future.
El Paso’s City Council Tuesday heard updates on the progress toward construction of the traffic circles and other road changes across the city. The second phase of the neighborhood traffic management program is entering the final stages of design and could soon begin construction on two new roundabouts in Northeast and Eastside neighborhoods, among other things.
On the Eastside, Havenrock Drive between Yarbrough Drive and Lee Trevino Drive will be getting curb extensions, striping and a roundabout at the intersection with Edgerock Drive.
In the Northeast, Regulus Drive between McCombs Street to Railroad Drive will be getting similar road changes to the Eastside along with a traffic circle at the intersection of Titan Street.
A number of roundabouts have already been installed across the city, including several along Robinson Avenue in Central El Paso. The new roundabouts will be placed at the intersections of busy neighborhood streets that span between major avenues through the city.
According to the city’s engineering and construction management department, the road changes are meant to discourage speeding and specific features are chosen to fit the needs of each particular street.
“Those ideas of like extending the curbs, adding parking lanes, adding those traffic circles,” said Martin Bartlett, spokesman for city engineering and construction management. “So the traffic engineers have taken a look at what’s the real problem in the neighborhood. Is it speeders, is it cut-through, is it not enough pedestrian crossings? What’s the exact problem and they kind of calibrate the solution to that problem, go to the community and say, this is what we’ve brought forward, do you have any feedback for us? Take that feedback in, tweak it as we can, then go back to the community before construction.”
The entire project, including other improvements but no roundabouts for Round Rock Drive and Breckenridge Drive, has a budget of just over $990 million. Final design on all aspects of the project is expected to be completed in the next month, with construction beginning once a construction company is selected.
