Work starts on east section of connection between SH 349-FM 1788

MIDLAND - Dirt is flying for a piece of West Texas highway–described both as a 'reliever route' to reduce future truck traffic congestion on Loop 250 in Midland and as the first section of the La Entrada al Pacifico in the United States.

Dan Dalager, a construction engineer for the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), said that Jones Bros. Dirt & Paving Contractors, Inc., of Odessa, has started work to build 16 miles of highway connecting State Highway 349 north of Midland to FM 1788 north of State Highway 191 between Midland and Odessa.

"The first section is being built from where it will intersect with State Highway 158 [Andrews Highway] back east to State Highway 349 about five miles north of Midland," explained Dalager.

The initial section will cost $10,322,741.69.

Construction got underway in August with work on two large drainage structures west of where the Reliever Route will intersect with a new extension of Holiday Hill Road. Construction is also underway on Holiday Hill Road and is being done by Jones Bros. Dirt & Paving.

The 16-mile connector has been promoted by the Midland-Odessa Transportation Alliance [MOTRAN] as the first link in an eventual trade route spanning from the Pacific Ocean in western Mexico through the Midland-Odessa area to the American Heartland. The La Entrada al Pacifico route runs from the port of Topolobampo in the Mexican state of Sinaloa, through Chihuahua City and Presidio-Ojinaga to the Midland-Odessa area. The Texas portion of the route was designated in 1997 by the Texas Legislature.

A 36-mile section was built in the state of Chihuahua connecting Federal 16 with State 67 in Mexico and opened as a toll road in 2003.

Dalagger said that the project around Midland will be built as half of the eventual freeway type facility–a two-lane highway. A second phase–from State Highway 158 west to FM 1788–is scheduled to be let as the first phase is underway.