TXDOT project to alleviate traffic near Fountains of Farah

drivers in far east el paso and west el paso. and now a stretch in between is about to see some work crews set up ramp configurations and make other improvements. the texas department of transportation is in the beginning stages of a project they say will improve the area between viscount and airway. and it’s supposed to last two years! abc-7’s jerry najera was there he is live with the story … rick estela txdot says bottom line this project will help eliviate traffic near the fountains of farah and cielo vista. but it’s where this new ramp is placed that has some people disappointed. there was definitely a lot of hype when the fountains of farah was about to open. many flocking to new stores-some never seen in el paso. and the area according to city council members has done the city well in some aspects “20 percent of thew sales tax for the whole city comes from this area” bu disitrict three representative emma acosta says the rebirth of the area has come with some problems “it’s become matter of everyday it’s congested especially fridays and weekends” thursda the texas department of transportation held a public meeting so el pasoans could see the new project that will help the situation. “for some people i will be the straw that broke the camels back” bob bielek is the district engineer for txdot in el paso. bielek says the biggest part of the project will be a braided ramp. txdot made this computer generated model that shows how it will look. “the reason for the braided ramp is to separate the people who are coming out of viscount who want to get on i-10 from the people who are getting off the i-10 who want to go to the fountains” bu representatives from the fountains of farah who did not want to be on camera said they were dissapointed. “their concerned that visibility of the fountains of farah will be negative” i you take a look at the video you can see the ramp will block the view of the retail center. the project will also improve intersections at hawkins-airways and viscount boulevards an additional auxiliary lane will also be added to the westbound i-10 lanes. “once this project starts there’s going to be a lot of inconvenience but i think it’s something that will be positive in the long run” some people have said well they just put two new ramps about 5 years ago. txdots reply to that is that they were made before the fountains was constructed. the project comes with a price tag of 17 million dollars it’s expected to begin in 2017 and should take about two years to complete. christmas shoppers beware.