I-10 Connect project starts next week at the Spaghetti Bowl

Officials with TXDOT say the next major project on I-10 is expected to begin next week.

The I-10 Connect project is slated to take place at the Spaghetti Bowl section of the I-10 in Central El Paso.

It will connect the I-10 directly to Loop 375 in both directions, as well as connect the I-10 to the Bridge of the Americas Port of Entry. The Texas Department of Transporaton said the project will ease back-up on the I-10, US 54 and Paisano.

The project will also turn Paisano into an overpass, allowing traffic to flow on Paisano without the back-up caused by semi-trucks and cars going into Mexico.

“This project will cut off any access from Paisano to the southbound inspection facility,” Bob Bielek, the district engineer for TXDOT in El Paso, said. “So those trucks that come off i-10 and drive all through the neighborhood and sit out on Paisano, they’ll be able to go directly to 110 from i-10.”

The work will include a lot of closures, including full closures of I-10 and Paisano, during construction, so TXDOT says to make sure you plan ahead.

“Get… information in our weekly blast as to when those closures are going to occur,” Bielek said. “Scout out alternatives that you can use when we’ve got pieces of that closed. That’ll help you a great deal at getting around during these projects.”

TXDOT officials expect the project to take 2.5 to 3 years to finish. It will cost an estimated $96 million.

Other majors projects starting soon are on Montana Avenue to improve the network of roadways around Ft. Bliss, a restructuring of the Zaragoza and Montwood exit and intersection to ease traffic and a full repair of N. Mesa Street from Sunland Park to Glory Road.

To find out about the closures, email TXDOT’s Jennifer Wright at jennifer.wright3@txdot.gov.