Border Highway East Corridor Study

Overview

The Border Highway East Corridor Study is an initiative by which the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) seeks to find a unified vision around improving mobility in the Border Highway East study area. With the community at the center of the planning process, TxDOT expects in this stage of the study to arrive at mobility concepts that are context-sensitive at the neighborhood level.

The need

TxDOT recognized the need for transportation improvements in the Border Highway East area in the late 1990s. In 2013, TxDOT completed a report examining various mobility improvements, including extending Loop 375 (Cesar E. Chavez Border Highway). The report, titled The Border Highway East Planning and Environmental Linkages (PEL) Study, identified some challenges including:

• Lack of connectivity to Interstate 10 and Loop 375 (Americas Avenue)
  
• Increasing traffic demands on east-west streets
• At-grade train crossings that cause a delay and impede traffic movement
• Anticipated future demand on the existing transportation network associated with increasing trade and freight rail movements

Background

The El Paso Metropolitan Planning Organization adopted the PEL as part of its 2015 long-range plan. The PEL presented various scenarios for extending the border highway; however, no definitive alignment was identified for advancement.

• Study area map
• Border Highway East Study - Fact Sheet

Get involved

TxDOT is conducting extensive public outreach, including public meetings at major study milestones, to provide multiple avenues of participation throughout the study.  Given the diverse nature of the corridor, TxDOT wants to hear from you.

• Virtual public meeting with in-person options – May 1, 2024
• Virtual public meeting with in-person options – May 2, 2024

2013–2015

Planning and Environmental Linkages (PEL) Study

The Border Highway East (BHE) Planning & Environmental Linkages (PEL) Study began in May 2013. A draft PEL Report was completed in October 2014, finalized and approved by TxDOT’s Environmental Affairs Division. On August 21, 2015, the study was presented to the El Paso Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) Transportation Policy Board (TPB), which serves as the regional planning and programming agency. The MPO adopted the BHE PEL Study and its results. Recommendations are included in the El Paso MPO’s long-term plan.

PEL Study area

The BHE PEL study area included Loop 375 near the Zaragoza International Port of Entry (POE) and extended south to the Tornillo POE. I-10 and the Rio Grande served as east and west boundaries.

PEL summary

Having expanded on the area previously studied in 1997, the PEL identified and documented transportation needs based on collaboration with the public as well as local, state and federal agencies. The PEL included community discussion and a visioning process for transportation improvements along the U.S.-Mexico border in southeast El Paso County.

The issues identified included:

• Lack of direct access/connectivity to I-10 and Loop 375
• Congestion along east-west arterials
• High volumes of truck traffic along the existing east-west arterials
• At-grade train crossings that cause delay and impede traffic movement
• Increasing demand on area transportation infrastructure (roadways, railroads and ports of entry) associated with the increasing international and interregional trade and freight rail movements

Transportation improvement alternatives were identified through a collaborative process. The alternatives were analyzed through three levels of evaluation. The alternatives that satisfied all criteria were presented within the PEL as recommended improvements. The improvements consisted of widening existing roadways, new alignment roadways, and multimodal improvements.

1997

Feasibility Study