West EP business owners fatigued by traffic congestion brace for weekend freeway closure

You may want to pack a lot of patience before hitting the road in and around El Paso this weekend.

That’s due to several road closures on the east and west side of town, all at the same time.

One of those closures is at the Sunland Park exit and on-ramp, where business owners and drivers are citing traffic congestion fatigue.

All the traffic construction is part of the $158 million dollar Go 10 project.

As part of that project, I-10 will close in both directions Friday night, for 57 hours, between the Sunland Park exit ramp and entrance ramp.

Sunland Park Drive in both directions will also close between Mesa Hills Drive and Doniphan Drive, and the Resler entrance ramp to I-10 East will close as well.

Drivers tell ABC-7 they are tired of so many road closures at the time time, spending so many hours behind the wheel of their car for hours, stuck in traffic.

One business owner says all the traffic congestion is hitting him where it hurts most, his pocket.

Noel Ruiz, owner of Li’s Cafe on Sunland Park, says his business is down 50 per cent since construction started, and pointed to empty chairs inside the restaurant.

Ruiz says customers have told him they are not willing to sit in backed-up traffic to get to his restaurant, only to get back into traffic congestion to get back home.