Northeast Parkway Project Schematic Design/Environmental Assessment El Paso, Texas

Project Description | Study Area Map | Public Involvement | Newsletters | Route Location Study (Completed August 2003)

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Introduction/Project Overview

The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), in cooperation with the New Mexico Department of Transportation, has recently completed the design schematic for a 21-mile long, limited access highway connecting Loop 375 in northeast El Paso near Railroad Drive to Interstate Highway 10 (I- 10) in Anthony, NM. The project is split about in half between Texas and New Mexico. A corridor-long, "Tier 1" environmental document has been prepared and is now under review by TxDOT and NMDOT.

The project represents the second phase of a study examining the feasibility of establishing an alternative route to the congested I-10 corridor through El Paso for through truck and other traffic. I-10 congestion is a function of the unique political and mountainous physical geography of the El Paso area that effectively channels all interstate traffic through the center of El Paso on I-10. An alternative cross-mountain route entails steep grades that preclude its use on a regular basis by truck and through traffic. As a result, there is frequent severe congestion on I-10 with no possibility for alternative routing of through truck and auto traffic and hazardous cargo. The first study phase confirmed the need for and feasibility of an alternative route bypassing the congested I-10 route through El Paso and determined a preferred alignment. The second current phase entails the preparation of schematic design drawings for the Texas portion of the project and an environmental assessment addressing the entire corridor. Following approval of the corridor-long environmental assessment, a second environmental assessment will be prepared that examines in detail only the Texas portion of the work.

The work is being closely coordinated with District 1 of the New Mexico Department of Transportation, but schematic plan and environmental document preparation for the New Mexico portion of the work have been deferred until a cost sharing agreement with New Mexico has been achieved. Accordingly, in the interim, design work will be confined to the Texas portion of the project.

The El Paso District of TxDOT has contracted with Jacobs Civil Inc. of Dallas, TX to prepare schematic design drawings, consult with affected federal, state and local agencies and prepare environmental documentation for the Northeast Parkway. In this effort Jacobs will be assisted by Moreno Cardenas, Inc. of El Paso, Caye Cook & Associates of Dallas, PBS&J of Austin and Landtech Consultants of Houston.

This study phase will establish the design particulars of the project, namely its precise horizontal and vertical alignment and the location, type and design of interchanges. The map shows the Northeast Parkway alignment and interchange locations.

STUDY AREA MAP showing preferred alignment, Figure 1.

The design schematic and environmental document preparation will take about 3 ½ years and be concluded by December 2007. Traffic studies to confirm TxDOT-generated 2012, 2032 and 2042 traffic projections and define interchange and cross street designs have been completed and the results have been provided to highway designers for their use in finishing the schematic design. Federal, state and local agencies have been kept abreast of the progress of design through regular work group (stakeholder) and public meetings. Technical environmental studies and constraints mapping have been a part of the environmental document preparation. Consultations with concerned agencies have been ongoing and have been useful in defining issues and route alternatives. A public hearing is planned for 2007 that will present the final design schematic drawings.

The Schematic Development Process

ANALYSIS OF ALTERNATIVES

The first study phase identified seven alternatives, including No-Build and Transportation System Management (TSM) options. Following public and agency input and an analysis of environmental, cost and technical constraints and opportunities, the number of alternatives was narrowed to three. Additional studies and public input yielded a preferred alternative. This preferred alternative constitutes the basis for more detailed design and environmental impact documentation in this phase of project development.

The alignment definition process was coordinated with the Public Service Board’s plans for developing Northeast El Paso, has minimized residential and commercial displacements, respected major utility facilities and distribution systems (e.g., El Paso Water Utilities, El Paso Natural Gas and El Paso Electric) and avoided undue impacts to sensitive natural environmental systems, such as the Bureau of Land Management’s Organ/Franklin Mountains Area of Critical Environmental Concern.

In terms of traffic operations, Northeast Parkway will operate at an acceptable level of service. The analysis highlighted, however, the existing capacity constraints on Loop 375 between I-10 and Northeast Parkway (south and east of the study area).

These conclusions were detailed in the Final Concept Report (August, 2003), and confirmed in discussions with federal, state and local agency representatives and the public. It was recognized, however, that detailed environmental and technical studies to be performed during the schematic/environmental phase of project development might alter alignments slightly or suggest the mixing and matching of segments of one alignment with those of another.

TxDOT, through its Texas Turnpike Authority Division (TTA), is pursuing alternative funding mechanisms for this project. A preliminary traffic and revenue study has been prepared concurrent with the initial corridor location phase of the project to explore the feasibility of constructing the Northeast Parkway as a toll facility, and the study results suggest that constructing the Northeast Parkway as a toll facility may be feasible; additional studies are now underway. Further, TTA has concluded that electronic toll collection is the most cost-effective means of toll collection.

DESIGN DEVELOPMENT

The design schematic and environmental documentation phase now underway for the Texas portion of the work is being prepared in coordination with the Gateway 2030 Regional Transportation Plan. This second phase examines the following elements:

• Existing and projected average daily traffic volumes to confirm main lane requirements and interchange and cross street configurations
• Proposed bridge structures
• Horizontal and vertical alignment, including typical sections and profiles
• Right-of-way and easement requirements
• Control of access areas
• Environmental document preparation, including technical studies for cultural resources and natural environmental features
• ITS/Preliminary Incident Management Planning

Work on the New Mexico portion of the project will not begin until a cost sharing agreement between TxDOT and NMDOT has been prepared. Nonetheless, certain key features of the alignment and design will be determined in discussions with NMDOT and the Federal Highway Administration’s New Mexico Division now, so that the design of the New Mexico portion can proceed with assurance that it can be seamlessly integrated with the Texas segment of the project.

The Consultant’s initial schematic design development (to a 30% stage) confirmed the direction of project development presented in the initial route location study phase. Recommendations for further design development have been made and to include:

• Acceptance of the consultant’s conclusion that the route alternate in the vicinity of the TX/NM state line offered more advantages than the preferred alignment identified in the route location study. The preferred alignment, as shown on the project map, now crosses the state line east of Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd, as opposed to the earlier more westerly alignment.
• Modification of the Loop 375/Northeast Parkway Interchange concept to include two additional ramps to make the interchange fully directional, and relocation of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. interchange to the south so that it lies entirely within TX.

Following the 30% design review the District conducted a value engineering study of the project. This study confirmed the design direction the project was taking, and also made recommendations for phasing the project’s construction in order to bring it on-line sooner and at less cost. The value engineering team recommended a number of design features and implementation measures directly related to the potential for the project being implemented as a toll facility. These included development of a "Super 2" design concept as an interim construction measure, deferral of construction of the McCombs and Dyer interchanges, provision of electronic toll collection facilities and design of improvements to the NM 213/NM 404 intersection and the IH10/NM 404 Interchange that will enhance the attractiveness of the Northeast Parkway in the absence of major improvements in New Mexico.

Subsequent design reviews made recommendations for modifying the Martin Luther King, Jr. interchange at the NM state line to reflect the project’s interim termination in TX and design refinements to the electronic toll collection concept. The final schematic design plans have now been submitted to and reviewed by TxDOT. TxDOT comments are now being incorporated in the final plans. The estimated cost for the TX portion of the project is $226 million.

In keeping with the decision to investigate the feasibility of implementing the project as a toll facility, plan development will reflect electronic toll collection as the sole means of toll collection. A distinctive aesthetic theme will distinguish the Northeast Parkway from other area roadways and coordination with the Texas Turnpike Authority is in process.

SUBSEQUENT PROJECT DEVELOPMENT TASKS

Environmental documentation that encompasses both NM and TX portions of the work is underway. A "tiered" approach to analysis will be taken to reflect the fact that, while this design phase of the project is limited to TX, impacts throughout the length of the project will need to be addressed, if only generally and qualitatively in NM in a Tier 1 document. This approach was developed jointly by TX and NM state and federal transportation planners. Following approval of the Tier 1 document, a Tier 2 document addressing in detail the TX portion of the work will be prepared. At a later stage, when more detail is known of the NM alignment, a separate, more detailed Tier 2 investigation can be conducted of NM impacts.

The project’s draft Tier 1 environmental assessment (EA) is now under review by TxDOT, NMDOT and FHWA. Following its review and approval, a final EA will be prepared and a public hearing conducted.

Depending upon the results of TTA tolling feasibility studies and the priority placed on Northeast Parkway by the El Paso Metropolitan Planning Organization, it will proceed to the PS &E stage of project development which includes detailed design and right-of-way acquisition.