Some west siders go with the flow when it comes to closures

ABC-7 spoke to some west siders about the hassle of the closures Friday evening and unlike in the past it seems like some drivers are little more forgiving this time around.

El Paso’s west side has gotten more than its fair share of traffic during the closures.

Some had to deal with it last weekend.

“Everything got backed up it took a very long time to get to the far west side even from central,” said west-side resident Paul Sakellanos.

Some moms even tried sneaking their way around traffic.

“We tried to go the back way but there was another closed sign so we just kind of squeezed through the closed sign,” said west-side resident Haven.

Little Haven said her mom was close to losing it.

“She’s like … we’re never going to get home,” Haven said.

But after seeing several closures west siders seemed prepared.

“It’s not like the media is not preparing us for this,” Sakellako said.

With the Sunland Park closure coming on Mother’s Day weekend, Fabiola Ramirez and Sakellakos say they are going to stay close to home and enjoy their surroundings.

“We are just going to all head to the park and make it a family thing and just stay home enjoy it,” Ramirez said.

“I’ll come to a place like this, like our local park, someplace close by our house. You know there’s some interesting local businesses that you can choose to enjoy,” Sakellakos said.

Both Ramirez and Sakellakos say they’ve learned a few things when it comes to the closures.

“First of all I typically plan to give myself more time,” Sakellakos said.

“We’re all out there trying to get things done and get to places, but we just got to remember to keep our cool and let each other through because we are all in the big mess together,” Ramirez said.

Another tip ABC-7 got from a west sider is if you know you’re going to be stuck in traffic brings some snacks to help calm the nerves.