A massive highway project in metro El Paso seeing the widening of Interstate 10 has just received around $110 million in new state funding.
That project, as undertaken by the Texas Department of Transportation, has focused on widening just over 11 miles of highway stretching from the west side of the city to the Texas/New Mexico state line.
Long in the planning stage, the project includes the building of three 12-foot-wide lanes going both east and west, as well as a 12-foot-wide shoulder in both directions.
When work on the project was launched in the spring of 2022, the Texas Department of Transportation said the goal was to “improve capacity, operation, circulation, and safety,” along one of the busiest stretches of highway in the state.
The original price tag for the project was set at around $173.4 million. But now the state transportation department is committing another $100 million due to an increase in construction costs.
Last month the Texas Transportation Commission gave its final approval to what is known as the Unified Transportation Program, a 10-year plan laying out the Lone Star State’s many highway and bridge projects, which are expected to cost a whopping $142.3 billion to complete.
Not only is El Paso going to see the completion of the Interstate 10 project, but around $51.2 million is being allotted for the extension of U.S. Highway 54 on the northeast side of the city, and $30 million to extend the Montana Freeway on the east side.
An additional project is seeing the remaking of the Artcraft Road Interchange at Paseo del Norte Boulevard. That project, originally pegged at $208 million, is now receiving an additional $40 million in state funding.
In announcing the additional funding, Texas Governor Greg Abbott said the new highway work will “meet the growing needs of Texans in our large metros, rural communities, and everywhere in between.”
By Garry Boulard
