TxDot crews demolish 1-10 east overpass

UPDATE: According to TXDOT spokeswoman Jennifer Wright, the I-10 opened back up at around 10:15 p.m. Sunday, 8 hours ahead of schedule.

Original story:

The Texas Department of Transportation closed I-10 East in West El Paso Sunday morning.

I-10 east is shut down from Redd road to Sunland Park. Mesa is closed in both directions at the I-10 overpass, and south desert boulevard frontage road is closed to through traffic, between Redd road and Thorn avenue.

The closure is so crews could demolish the I-10 eastbound overpass at Mesa street. It’s part of the TXDOT’s Go-10 project.

TXDOT officials said the closure was expected to last 27 hours. As of 8:30 p.m. Sunday, TXDOT spokeswoman Jennifer Wright said the project was on track to be completed by 6 a.m. She said it was highly likely the I-10 east would re-open before then, but it would probably be sometime early Monday morning.

“Twenty-seven hours is an aggressive timeframe for work that could easily take multiple days,” Project Engineer Tim Twomey said in a news release, “This consolidated timeframe is an effort to mitigate impact to motorists and businesses.”

Crews had their hands full. First lying ply-wood and a foot of dirt so the road wouldn’t crack, then crushing the pavement and breaking the steel beams of the overpass. Once it was demolished, crews re-striped the east bound lanes directing traffic on a newly constructed median. The last step is clean up.

But with part of the freeway shut down, drivers have been forced to take alternate routes like Doniphan to Sunland park, or Restler to Mesa to Sunland park. It’s an inconveniance some wish didn’t take so long.

“It is more hectic,” one El Paso driver said.

“it’s my only day off, and here I am,” another driver said.