El Paso gets $900k federal grant for design of I-10 deck plaza & park

EL PASO, Texas -- El Paso city government is set to receive $900,000 in federal funding to create the design for an Interstate 10 deck plaza and park that local lawmakers have long discussed.

The money to conduct the design study will come from the U.S. Department of Transportation, Congresswoman Veronica Escobar announced Tuesday afternoon.

While the funding announcement comes on the heels of President Biden's newly-signed infrastructure bill, Escobar said the money for this project had already been appropriated.

"These funds will help our community move closer toward the goal of expanding our green spaces and creating a public gathering space for all El Pasoans," Escobar said.

Under the concept, a stretch of I-10 through the downtown corridor - from the Yandell Drive bridge to the North Campbell Street bridge - would be covered with a deck plaza and park.

Supporters say the proposed plaza and park would re-connect neighborhoods on either side of I-10 in the downtown area and bring hiking, biking and other recreational amenities to the region.

It would be modeled after Dallas’s 5.2-acre Klyde Warren Park, where the city covered a section of the Woodall Rodgers Freeway with a park and plaza. Officials there say the park has spurred development in its immediate vicinity.