The next step in the creation of an unusual deck plaza that would stretch across Interstate 10 in downtown El Paso has been taken with a vote by the El Paso County Commissioners Court that may prove to be supportive in more than one sense of the word.
For the most part of the last decade planners in both the City of El Paso as well as El Paso County have been touting the possibility of building a kind of park on a viaduct that was otherwise slated for demolition as part of a massive 1-10 widening project.
The park, making up a space of around five blocks, would include trees, bushes, grass, and gardens, as well as, possibly, a dog park, performance stage, and even an El Paso Police Department substation.
Cost estimates have put the project at around $207 million, with funding already secured from both state and local sources. The non-profit Paseo del Norte Community Foundation has kicked in a $900,000 grant to fund a feasibility study for the project.
Now the Commissioners Court has approved spending $43 million that will be used to structurally reinforce the viaduct.
In approving what is officially a memorandum of understanding, the commissioners were also creating a partnership between the city and county, as well as the Deck Plaza Foundation, El Paso Metropolitan Planning Organization, and the Texas Department of Transportation.
Supporters of the plaza project say that not only will it create a new green space in the urban core of downtown El Paso, it will also provide a pedestrian reconnection to neighborhoods on either side of I-10 that have been separated since the highway’s 1960s construction.
April 14, 2026
By Garry Boulard
Rendering courtesy of City of El Paso
