The Village at Westside Crossing expected to bring residential and commercial spaces to Upper Valley neighborhood

El Paso, Texas-- A new commercial development area is coming to the upper valley area and a few residents are not too happy about the change.

“Before it was calmer and nice with all the farms and now no more farms and yea theres more traffic,” said Ramon Franco, a resident of the Upper Valley neighborhood where the new commercial development is being built.

The calm and quiet neighborhood Franco moved into forty years ago has been overtaken by piles of dust and construction trucks and it’s all due to a new development, The Village at Westside Crossing, being built off Artcraft and Westside drive.

The Village at Westside Crossing is expected to bring single family homes along with commercial spaces meaning an increase in traffic. Something Franco is not happy about.

"The traffic is going to get heavier now that there is no more farm land and there is going to be more accidents,” said Franco.

“People are resistant to change and I understand it but the whole Upper Valley there is being converted to non-agricultural uses and this is more or less inevitable. I think it will be nice,” said Geoffrey Wright, an architect working on the new commercial development.

Wright and his team at WDA Architects completed a traffic impact analysis before beginning the development project.

"And it seems that what we’ll probably have to do is maybe provide a left turn lane or something on Westside drive," explained Wright, "Westside Drive is also considered by the city to become an arterial so its gonna be improved and add at least two lanes each way and maybe more.”

The Village at Westside Crossings is expected to provide neighborhood style services such as apartments and shops.

"Right now the plan is to make three of the building have commercial uses on the first floor and two stories of apartments above the area,” said Wright.

The new commercial development is also expected to have plenty of residential features as well.

"This is very pedestrian friendly," explained Wright, "We're putting in biking trails theres a hike and bike trail thats going through Artcraft and we’re connecting the entire neighborhood including commercial development through Artcraft. It's going to be highly landscaped and it's going to be nice.”

Wright understands residents frustrations over the new development but he promises the new project will be a welcomed change for locals.

"Some people complain that if you have a neighborhood of only houses you have to walk too far to get to any commercial places or you have to go by car," explained Wright, "This is an attempt to integrate this into a neighborhood still while keeping them separate."

Wright and his team is hoping to have The Village at Westside Crossing ready for business by January of 2023.