FM 3380

[mwb1848]

On Thursday, February 2, 2017, TxDOT formally opened the last remaining section of FM 3380 – Manny Aguilera International Highway. This roadway is designed to carry truck traffic between the newly-opened Tornillo/Guadalupe Port of Entry and Interstate 10 in far southeast El Paso County.

The connection to I-10 was made by realigning traffic patterns around the existing interchange at Exit 55. So I drove out there today to see if TxDOT had added an FM 3380 signage or Port of Entry signage on I-10. In short no, but that was just the first of many disappointments.

None of the guide signs on I-10 had been updated and there's no mention of the Port of Entry. The only mention of FM 3380 at I-10 is at the end of the eastbound off ramp:


Nearby, northbound traffic on FM 3380 encounters this assembly regarding I-10, including unique cardinal direction banners:


Further south, intersecting traffic on O.T. Smith Road gets sees our first mentions of the "Tornillo Guadalupe Land Port of Entry". (I suppose the word "land" was included to avoid any confusion that this was a seaport or riverport. I can't imagine anybody would make that mistake in the middle of the Chihuahuan Desert and it's a departure from the El Paso District's typical nomenclature regarding border crossings. They usually opt for "International Bridge" or "Port of Entry" – no where else have I ever seen "Land Port of Entry):


This assembly for O.T. Smith Road defies anything I've ever seen in the TxDOT MUTDC or Sign Crew Field Book:


FM 3380 crosses the Union Pacific Railroad Tracks and SH 20 (Alameda Avenue) via an overpass. Traffic is allowed to travel between the two state highways via a modified folded diamond interchange. No guide signs are up on FM 3380. However, there was evidence that the will be installed soon:


FM 3380 ends a few hundred yards shy of the US/Mexico Border at the stop sign in the background of this picture. The intersecting street is called Lower Island Road – not that you'd know that from this assembly (a cousin of the O.T. Smith installation above):


Most traffic will continue south to the Port of Entry and on to the Mexican farming villages of Guadalupe Distrito Bravo and Caseta. I turned right and followed Lower Island Road which, because of several realignments around the Port of Entry, provides a connection to FM 76 which now ends short of its former goal – the border.

Northeastbound traffic on Lower Island gets an FM 3380 shield:


Guide signs are sprawled out across the intersection:


FM 76 still provides an important link between Fabens, Texas, and the border. While that used to necessitate a right turn from FM 76 onto Lower Island, it now requires a left turn to Lower Island and traveling on to FM 3380. Good news, somebody had their masking tape at the ready:


Let's be clear. FM 3380 has been a regional priority for sometime. That really underscore my disappointment that there's no mention on I-10. Furthermore, the type of inconsistent signage seen on the road itself is something I'd expect from New Mexico – not Texas.

Clearly, there's still some work to be done including guide signs at the SH 20/FM 3380 interchange and guardrails at drainage culverts. However, I wouldn't expect any wholesale changes. The only redeeming factor of my trip is this – which is now, likely, my favorite temporary sign ever produced:


Also of note, that merge sign is well past the point where the on ramp merged with the road.

[Bobby5280]

There's some pretty crappy sign work going on there.

The cardinal direction panels on the I-10 signs in the 2nd image weren't designed correctly. There's no large cap-small cap treatment, usually set in Series C. These look like Series E. The Tornillo-Guadalupe Land Port of Entry sign looks like somebody distorted the Clearview type to fit the space, putting a little more artificial squeeze on the "Tornillo-Guadalupe" part of the panel. The O.T. Smith Road sign is badly crowded looking. I guess TX DOT couldn't afford a little more green space on a larger name panel. The M.F. Aguilera Road sign has horribly cramped letter spacing. Plus it's not mixed case, which I thought was required in current MUTCD standards for street name signs.

I guess they figured no one would notice.

[Brian556]

Substandard signage is all too common in Texas. The reason for it is that engineers that design these projects don't possess the needed knowledge.

Examples that I have seen:

1. Brown Flower Mound and Highland Village city limit signs on FM 2499 at FM 407.
https://www.google.com/maps/@33.0718303,-97.0835197,3a,26.2y,235.7h,84.56t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sjOmCQ9-iR24R1GcuExrjhw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
2. b/w arrow sign with no border at 90-degree turn, and nearby, a double arrow sign at a T junction that was no bigger than an arrow plaque. This was in Lake Dallas in 2006. https://www.google.com/maps/@33.113582,-97.0279633,3a,22.4y,86.2h,90.81t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1soStSfP3hUD-F52oscvnnkg!2e0!7i3328!8i1664
3. FM 377 sign on US 377 in Denton, 2003.
4.WEST FM 1384 assembly instead of JCT FM 1384 assembly, FM 156 at FM 1384 near Justin.
  https://www.google.com/maps/@33.1086654,-97.2923523,3a,60.3y,30.97h,82.36t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1szd1sVAJnHi8xceQesgZ0Fw!2e0!5s20130701T000000!7i13312!8i6656