Sunland Park flyover ramp to shut down until late April

The Sunland Park Flyover ramp will be closed starting tomorrow and is projected to open again toward the end of April. TxDOT crews will be demolishing the ramp that leads from Sunland to I-10 east, and it’s expected to cause some traffic backups. Some area shoppers said they’re already used to this, others said it may stop them from shopping in the area for a while.

“I started using Mesa a couple months ago and just kinda avoided this whole area. It’s very confusing, especially at night,” said Vivek Grocer, a shopper who lives in the area.

Traffic along Sunland Park Drive was pretty light Sunday morning, but TxDOT expect lines of cars to start building up Monday once the flyover ramp to I-10 east shuts down for demolition.

The bright red line on the map is the ramp that is being closed and demolished before the new ramp is opened. That means drivers on Sunland Park Drive who want to get on I-10 east will have to keep going straight and take the bridge over I-10 before turning left on the Paisano light and into the highway. It’s recommended people take alternate streets like South Mesa Hills for the mall area and Doniphan if they want to reach the restaurants south of the highway.

TxDOT is advising drivers to avoid the area unless it has their direct destination to help cut down on traffic.

“I happen to go to the office really really early in the mornings, so I usually just take Mesa,” Grover said.

Relief will come, drivers said, once the road work is over.

“I know it was congested before, so I’m just gonna stay positive and see how things play out,” said Grover.

The Sunland bridge over I-10 is schedule to shut down and be demolished toward the end of April, when TxDOT says the flyover ramp should be open.