Texas Transportation Commission OKs Downtown I-10 expansion despite Stout's opposition

A last-ditch effort by El Paso County Commissioner David Stout failed to stop the four-member Texas Transportation Commission from approving the Interstate 10 expansion project in Downtown as part of its $85.1 billion Unified Transportation Program (UTP) this week.

The program sets the construction priorities for the Texas Department of Transportation over the next 10 years. Stout traveled to Austin on Aug. 30 in an attempt to convince the commission to hold off on including the El Paso project until alternatives could be reviewed and local concerns addressed.

According to a statement from the Texas Transportation Commission, the Downtown I-10 project was approved in last year's UTP and was approved this year for an increase of more than $300 million, roughly half of which will come from the El Paso Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) Transportation Policy Board.

"The El Paso MPO identified this project as the number one priority for the region in its Regional Mobility Strategy (RMS) 2020, which received resolutions of support from the City and County of El Paso," the Texas Transportation Commission said in an emailed statement.

Still, Stout opposes the project on a number of grounds.

"This is a project with which, in its current form, I don't agree," Stout said in an interview. "I'm not in favor of expanding I-10 Downtown. TxDOT has not given this community an explanation for the need to do this."

Stout said the commission laid out three premises for expanding the highway, including the need to address its structural integrity, traffic congestion and safety.

The Transportation Commission explained the need for the project.

"The purpose of the project is to provide long-term transportation solutions for the El Paso region," the commission said in its statement. "These solutions will improve mobility and long-term congestion management, reduce and improve incident management by providing continuous frontage roads, and bring the interstate up to current design standards. The proposed improvements include reconstruction of the mainlanes, retaining walls, bridges, ramps, and cross streets to overcome deterioration of pavement and bridges."

On the first point, Stout agrees.

"I know it's old and needs to be replaced," Stout said. "We don't want accidents because the highway is falling apart."

More:Planned Borderland Expressway in Northeast El Paso aimed at alleviating I-10 congestion

On the other two points, however, Stout firmly disagreed, saying that congestion in the Downtown area was not as big of a problem as it is in other parts of town. He also asserted that most of the traffic seen Downtown stems from drivers traveling to and from the border and other parts of the city.

"I think it's pretty commonly known ... that widening highways is not a solution to reducing congestion," Stout said. "Even if there were congestion, adding more lanes to the highway is just going to produce more traffic. It might be a temporary fix ... but in the long run, it's not."

Stout cited the Katy Freeway in the Houston area, which has 14 lanes in either direction but still suffers from high traffic and congestion.

"There's still gridlock on that highway," Stout said. "I just don't understand why TxDOT continues to gaslight this community and tell us there's a need for this expansion when there's not."

Stout noted that the city has hired a third-party consultant to review the modeling and data being used by TxDOT for the expansion construction, which currently has no projected start date, in an effort to "debunk the arguments TxDOT is making."

A rough draft of the consultant's review was presented a few months ago, Stout said, and a final draft should be submitted in the next few weeks.

While Stout contests the state's reasoning for pushing for the project, which he said is "not a community-led project" but a "developer-led project," he also voiced concern over its impact on the community surrounding the area, including increased pollution, noise, vibration and the creation of an urban heat island.

More:El Paso County Commissioners Court cuts tax rate, but many still will see higher bills

"These are historically underprivileged Black and brown communities that were displaced," Stout said of those living in the area where the 6-mile construction project is set to take place. "This is just a doubling down of that."

"We have asked TxDOT to carry forward other alternatives that don't have to do with widening the highway or adding frontage roads," Stout said. "It's going to be ugly. The aesthetics are going to be terrible. This is going to be one of the most impactful projects in my lifetime in El Paso and it needs to be done properly."

Beyond those concerns, Stout also wondered whether the ends justify the means.

"This is not a forward-thinking project," Stout said. "This is doing the same exact thing that was done in the '60s and causing more damage. This is not a project that looks to better the quality of life for residents. It's amazing to me that the end benefit, spending close to a billion dollars, is that trucks will be able to get through Downtown five minutes faster between 5 and 6 p.m."

"That's a lot of money to be spending on such a small benefit," he continued. "That's a lot of people's lives you're putting in danger for such a tiny, minuscule benefit."

Stout noted that while many El Pasoans, as well as city and state representatives, are looking forward to the expansion, including the "big, beautiful, shiny prospect of a nice park that's being dangled in front of our eyes to try to distract us from the real issues at hand," the county has been unified in its opposition to the project.

However, the Transportation Commission said that it received resolutions of support for the project from both city and county leaders, adding that it has "strong support" from El Paso's state delegation, some of whom voiced their backing during the recent meeting.

“Our state delegation might be in favor of it, the city might be in favor of it … but I think the county is the lone dissenter on this and we will continue to try to make sure this project is not detrimental," Stout said. "I think our advocacy up to this point has already made the project better.”

While Stout's attempt to delay prioritizing the project was a bust, he believes the effort was worth it.

"I understand that this was probably an effort in futility, but I feel like if we don't raise our voices, then we can't say we've done anything, so I thought it was necessary for them to see, to understand, what's going on in El Paso," Stout said. "I thought we would be remiss if we didn't raise our voices."

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Texas Transportation Commission greenlights Downtown I-10 expansion