El Paso County consultant suggests alternatives to proposed expansion to I-10 Downtown

EL PASO, Texas– During a meeting Thursday, the El Paso County Commissioners Court was given a review of the Texas Department of Transportation I-10 Segment 2 (Downtown) Expansion Proposal.

The report was done by a consultant, Smart Mobility Inc., who found that claims of future congestion on Interstate-10 are overstated.

These congestion claims are driving the proposal to widen the highway by adding two more lanes and add frontage roads between Copia and Executive in Downtown El Paso.

According to the report, the cost of the proposed expansion would be $787 million. 

In the report, the consultant also recommends against converting portions of Yandell and Wyoming streets into frontage roads.

“Urban freeway expansion has failed to eliminate congestion anywhere in the U.S.,” the report states.

The consultant suggests as alternatives to the widening and frontage road proposal:

• Closing multiple exit and entrance ramps between Copia and Executive.

• Eliminate “transit adaptive” lanes to Interstate 10.

• Not converting City streets into frontage roads.

 “My goal is to reduce the pollution, noise, vibrations, heat, and sheer ugliness of the highway, which my constituents live with 24 hours a day, seven days a week, while moving existing traffic and to balancing our transportation system through increased, targeted investment in transit, walking, and biking,” said El Paso County Commissioner David Stout, in a press release.

TxDOT spokeswoman Jennifer Wright said they are aware of Thursday's presentation to El Paso County Commissioners Court and are reviewing the report.

Wright said the Downtown 10 project, the first project to stem from the Reimagine I-10 Corridor Study in late 2019, is in the preliminary engineering and environmental studies phase, which includes the evaluation of alternatives along with listening and considering feedback from all stakeholders and the public.

Wright said two public meetings have already taken place, and a third public meeting is planned for Fall 2022 for the Downtown 10 project.