TXDOT conducts study on Doniphan Drive

It’s a drive thousands of Upper Valley commuters make each day.

For many, Doniphan Drive is a main artery to access the freeway or even just a business down the street.

A study that started 18 months ago tracks issues along a 15 mile stretch of the widely-used road.

The study begins at the Texas New Mexico state line through Vinton and Canutillo, and finishes at Racetrack Drive in El Paso.

Texas Department of Transportation officials said they’ve gathered public input twice throughout the study.

Officials said one of the results of the planning process will be the identification of a set of projects for short, medium and long-term implementation.

One of the biggest complaints drivers had is flooding along the roadway, officials said.

Melissa Sanchez grew up in Canutillo. She told ABC-7 she has seen the flood waters close down businesses.

“It gets bad. I’ve seen people get stuck in the flood waters. One woman was stuck for almost two hours,” Sanchez said.

“We are responsible for the drainage off our roadway, but what happened is up between the mountain and Doniphan, a lot of development occurred where impermeable surface was put in place, and now Doniphan floods and we have to improve the drainage there,” said Jennifer Wright, TXDOT spokeswoman.

Other plans include wider roadways, landscaping and flooding improvements but officials say there will be some challenges.

“Some of the challenges are the multiple municipalities and county entities. You go all the way from Anthony, Texas to Vinton to Canutillo, through various railroads so there’s a challenge coordinating what we can and can’t do,” Wright said.

TXDOT will be holding two more meetings for interested residents.

The first will be at the Lincoln Middle School gymnasium Jan. 22 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., and the next will be the following day, Jan. 23, at Canutillo High School from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.