Construction overlap could create headaches for I-10, west El Paso

Westside traffic will be the talk of town for a good while. More Texas Department of Transportation projects promise to streamline traffic on the Westside, but overlapping timelines and project scopes could make for some serious hassles.

Both the Border Expressway West, an extension of Loop 375, and the I-10 Collector-Distributor Lane Project will be changing how you travel on the road from downtown along the Westside.

ABC-7 is learning more about how these projects will work together and unfortunately could tie things up for years to come

“The projects will both be starting around 60 days,” said Eddie Valtier, TXDOT transportation planning and development director. “You’re going to start seeing construction activities, on both projects.”

Valtier said the projects will be going at the same time over much of the next three years, and organized by two different offices. During this overlap, communication will be critical to coordinating road closures and connections. Valtier said that I-10 and Paisano Drive could each be closed at times, or even at the same time as construction dictates.

“You can expect full interstate closures because we will be at the intersection of Resler Drive with I-10,” Valtier said. “The intersection of Sunland Park Drive with I-10, and the Paisano connection. We will be closing I-10 to bring those bridges down. There are new connections, new structures going up also.”

The Border West Expressway will complete Loop 375 around most of the city, and its construction will determine some of what happens on the I-10 project. There isn’t a full timeline yet, but work on I-10 should happen as soon as April, while the downtown end of Loop 375 work is set to start this summer.

And drivers beware as they get closer to one another.

“It’s going to be painful,” Valtier said. “We’re going to have to use routes that are going to have a lot of traffic on it. So we just ask that everyone approach with care as we continue. We know that there will be some frustration.”