MPO Board votes to bring back freeway courtesy patrol
The Metropolitan Planning Organization approved more than $4 million dollars Friday for the return of the Highway Emergency Response Operation (HERO).
The program is also known as the Courtesy Patrol.
The program was dumped in 2010 due to a lack of funding, but now it’s set to return to Borderland roads as soon as next spring.
“I tend to drive a lot of older cars and so I have experiences and the Courtesy Patrol is just fantastic,” El Paso driver Bob Jacquemotte told ABC-7 back in 2010. “They’ve come to my aid more than a couple of times.”
Prior to disappearing six years ago, TxDOT’s Courtesy Patrol helped thousands of El Paso drivers.
“Breaking down anytime is not convenient, but especially in rush hour,” Jacquemotte said. “It gets a lot more dangerous when it’s rush hour traffic.”
“We had voted unanimously at council to ask TxDOT to bring it back,” El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser said, “because it was really important for the safety of the community.”
By early next year, the program is expected to be rolling once again in the Borderland.
“It’s a little bit different setup than what we had in previous years,” said Eddie Valtier, TxDOT El Paso’s director of transportation and planning, pointing out this time they will hire contractors to do the work and TxDOT will manage it. “It won’t be per se TxDOT employees, but it will be employees working for TxDOT.”
He said the previous program only covered I-10 and portions of Loop 375.
“This program will cover all of Loop 375, all of I-10 down to the Clint area,” Valtier said. “We know we have projects out there, cars stalling, accidents and part of congestion mitigation is to clear those accidents up and get the stalled vehicles off the roadway.”
“I’m glad that its coming back,” MPO board member and City Rep. Dr. Michiel Noe said. “I think everybody will be.”
Valtier said the $4.4 million approved Friday is start-up costs for the first couple of years. After the first year, he said, they plan to see if TxDOT can begin budgeting funding to keep the program going.
