El Paso: contract recommendation for Loop 375 border highway extension (toll)

[MaxConcrete]

This is from last week's transportation commission meeting
http://ftp.dot.state.tx.us/pub/txdot-info/adm/2014/0424/minute-orders/6a-presentation.pdf

More information here
http://www.txdot.gov/inside-txdot/projects/studies/el-paso/border-highway-west.html

This appears to be poised to move forward to construction in around 7 months and is tentatively planned to be carrying traffic in fall 2017. It is 9 miles long and according to the presentation is mostly on elevated structures. An interesting optional feature is an anti-icing system. That seems strange to me - how often is there ice in El Paso?

Winning proposer: Abrams-Kiewit
Construction cost: $448 million
Anti-icing option: $34 million
15 years of maintenance: $62 million

Total: $544.5 million

[oscar]

This appears to be poised to move forward to construction soon. It is 9 miles long and according to the presentation is mostly on elevated structures. An interesting optional feature is an anti-icing system. That seems strange to me - how often is there ice in El Paso?

Ice storms have reached as far south as San Antonio.  Not very often, but when they do they can be disastrous on long elevated structures (as in closing highways for days at a time) since TxDOT seems not to have the equipment and expertise for dealing with icy roads.

[Chris]

El Paso is at a higher elevation than other cities in Texas (3,740 ft). According to climate data at Wikipedia the average low gets to near freezing in December and January.

Do you think this road will be viable as a toll road? The first data of the Loop 375 express lanes aren't too convincing, reportedly 1,000 vehicles per day (a single lane can carry that in an hour easily).

[wxfree]

El Paso is at a higher elevation than other cities in Texas (3,740 ft). According to climate data at Wikipedia the average low gets to near freezing in December and January.

Do you think this road will be viable as a toll road? The first data of the Loop 375 express lanes aren't too convincing, reportedly 1,000 vehicles per day (a single lane can carry that in an hour easily).

Viability is a minor concern.  Our transportation commission has a dogmatic devotion to toll roads.  As with any deity, faith is foremost, and facts are secondary.

[RBBrittain]

This is from last week's transportation commission meeting
http://ftp.dot.state.tx.us/pub/txdot-info/adm/2014/0424/minute-orders/6a-presentation.pdf

More information here
http://www.txdot.gov/inside-txdot/projects/studies/el-paso/border-highway-west.html

This appears to be poised to move forward to construction in around 7 months and is tentatively planned to be carrying traffic in fall 2017. It is 9 miles long and according to the presentation is mostly on elevated structures. An interesting optional feature is an anti-icing system. That seems strange to me - how often is there ice in El Paso?

Winning proposer: Abrams-Kiewit
Construction cost: $448 million
Anti-icing option: $34 million
15 years of maintenance: $62 million

Total: $544.5 million

Had to fix your second link for it to work.  Still, it seems awfully fishy that two firms involved in the winning proposal have a former TxDOT executive director on their payroll.

[MaxConcrete]

Do you think this road will be viable as a toll road? The first data of the Loop 375 express lanes aren't too convincing, reportedly 1,000 vehicles per day (a single lane can carry that in an hour easily).

My first impression is skepticism that the toll road can be profitable. But I don't know how bad traffic is on IH 10 through central El Paso. TxDOT is going to build collector-distributor lanes on west IH 10 which I presume will help feed traffic into the toll lanes.

http://ftp.dot.state.tx.us/pub/txdot-info/elp/notices/043014-notice.pdf

El Paso is also a very low-income city and the locals will probably not be eager to pay tolls. Realistically, every city in Texas is going to have to accommodate some toll roads to be viewed favorably by the Texas Transportation Commission. San Antonio was hesitant to embrace tolls and the Commission seems to have cut off most funding to the area.