El Paso’s newest freeway under construction on the eastside

EL PASO, Texas -- The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) is undertaking a number of major projects around the city. But perhaps one of the biggest is the Montana Freeway project.

Work on Phase 1 has been going on there for 16 months. But because of the flat terrain, drivers have been unable to appreciate all the progress on that project, except for the now-visible walls going up for the main lanes. Work will continue without impacting traffic or requiring a detour until early next year.

The westbound frontage roads are nearly completed, and early next year westbound traffic will be switched over to them. The existing eastbound lanes will remain open to traffic, and they will eventually be the eastbound frontage roads.

The switch will allow for work on the main lanes to continue. The walls going up are for the westbound main lanes, and the current westbound lanes are where the future eastbound main lanes will be. If that's too much to envision, you can watch this video.

The $144 million project is on track to be completed by end of 2022.

Jennifer Wright with TxDOT talked about the Montana Freeway and other on-going projects Friday on ABC-7 at Four.