TEXAS STATE EDITION
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August 20 2017 Vol. II • No. 17
“The Nation’s Best Read Construction Newspaper… Founded in 1957.” Your Texas Connection • Dennis Hogeboom • 1-877-7CEGLTD • dennishogeboom@cegltd.com
TxDOT’s $158M ‘Go-10’ Project Adds New Lanes in El Paso By Chuck Harvey CEG CORRESPONDENT
Interstate 10 in El Paso will add 5.75 mi. of collector-distributor lanes from North Mesa Street to Executive Center Boulevard as part of a $158-million project called “Go 10.” Go 10 is an infrastructure reconstruction of Interstate 10 on El Paso’s Westside. Its purpose is to improve traffic flow, vehicle capacity and safety along the much-used portion of I-10. Go 10 is the largest traditionallydelivered design-bid-build project that the Texas Department of Transportation, El Paso District, has done to date. Construction of the project started in April 2015 and should be completed by April 2019. In addition to the new connector-distributor lanes, the project includes improved direct-connector ramps at Paisano Drive; intermittent addition I-10 main lanes in both directions; and reconfiguration of ramps and overpasses at Sunland Park Drive, Resler Drive and North Mesa Street. Connector-distributor lanes are high-speed roadways that collect and distribute vehicles and in
doing so, reduce the need for weaving and merging on the interstate mainlines. As part of the project, 29 bridges will be built including 14 that extend over drainage ways. Four Work Zones The project is divided into four work zones. The first zone includes construction of the collector-distributor lanes from North Mesa Street to Executive Center Boulevard and direct connector from southbound Resler Drive to eastbound collector-distributor lanes. Zone 1 also features reconstruction of the I-10 and U.S. 85 Interchange and addition of new lanes to the eastbound and westbound main lanes. Zone 2 includes construction of U-turns at North Mesa Street and the building of a direct connector from southbound Sunland Park Drive to the eastbound collectordistributor lanes. Zone 3 includes construction of Sunland Park Drive on-ramps and off-ramps, building of eastbound and westbound collector-distributor lanes and improvements to Sunland Park Drive adjacent to I-10. In zone 4, workers will construct North Mesa Street from north of I-
10 to south of I-10, including the adjacent ramps. They also will construct westbound collector-distributor lanes near Resler Drive and the ramp to Resler Drive. In addition, they will construct westbound collector-distributor lanes under Sunland Park Drive and build turnabouts at North Mesa Street and at Sunland Park Drive. Other Go 10 jobs include upgrades to a portion of North Main Street and portions of north and south Desert Boulevard frontage roads including improved turning movements and better drainage. Aesthetics are an important part of the project: bridge caps will include a sun design; retaining walls will feature a mountain and sun design in locations where they are visible to motorists; and landscaping includes various xeriscaping with pavers, rock and some native vegetation. Funding for the project is primarily from state and federal sources. Part of the amount came from El Paso County’s 2014 $10 increase on vehicle registration fees. Go 10 is overseen by the Texas Department of Transportation, see TXDOT page 14
TxDOT, El Paso District photo
Go 10 is an infrastructure reconstruction of Interstate 10 on El Paso’s Westside.
Federal Court Rules in Favor of Mobility Authority, TxDOT The U.S. District Court in Austin issued a ruling in favor of the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority (Mobility Authority) and the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) on a lawsuit attempting to prevent the agencies from advancing three key mobility improvement projects in south Austin. The suit was filed last year in federal court by Save Our Springs Alliance and other plaintiffs in an effort to stop construction of two projects that had already received environmental clearance, the SH 45SW Project and the
MoPac Intersections Project, as well as the environmental study of the proposed MoPac South Project. “We are pleased that the judge has denied the claims brought by the plaintiffs so we can continue working to bring meaningful congestion relief to our region,” said Mike Heiligenstein, executive director of the Mobility Authority. “Today’s ruling confirms the credibility of the environmental study processes and planning procedures that guide our work. It’s time to separate politics from the science and let
the science lead.” The plaintiffs asserted there were flaws with the process in which the environmental studies on all three projects were carried out. They claimed that, rather than studying the projects independently, they should have been analyzed as one single project. Each of these projects has significant independent utility, meaning each would benefit drivers and would be considered a reasonable expenditure, even if no see MOPAC page 12