EL PASO, Texas (KFOX14/ CBS4) — A road project at the Texas-New Mexico state line is changing how drivers move between El Paso and Sunland Park, creating new bottlenecks for some commuters and raising questions about emergency access.
The city of El Paso is building the Frontera Road Project at the Sunland Park state line. The project separates through traffic by state, meaning drivers can no longer go straight through on Frontera Road. Walking and biking access remains open, but drivers now have to use detours.
A Sunland Park viewer told city officials the change is concentrating traffic near Sunland Park Drive and Appaloosa, and raised concerns about emergency response and evacuation.
El Paso officials said the project is intended to address resident concerns about cut-through traffic and future development pressures, while also accounting for emergency access. Joaquin Rodriguez, interim director of capital improvements for the city of El Paso, said, “We’ve been with them to ensure that emergency response is. 100% accessible and able to move through these traffic calming elements that we’ve installed.”
Sunland Park officials said opening a gate or removing bollards can take 30 seconds to two or three minutes. Sunland Park Fire Chief Daniel Medrano said, “Sure, I mean you know we don’t want any barriers at all. These are, if you’ve been on this neighborhood, it’s a free flowing neighborhood. There’s a state line obviously but it’s an imaginary line.”
Officials said the two cities are working together to get key vaults that would give both fire departments access. Sunland Park police also recommend a formal process for opening the gates during a declared emergency.
Sunland Park’s regional traffic study will examine current conditions, future growth and possible new connections. City Manager Mario Juarez-Infante said, “So we’re going to be evaluating not only the additional traffic into the system in the future,but evaluating all the intersections. We do know that there are a number of intersections today that already have issues, specifically on the Texas side with intersections coming into Donovan and Fronteras, no exception.”
The Frontera Road Project is expected to wrap up in October of this year. Sunland Park officials said other traffic projects in the area are also in the works.
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