Commissioner Precinct 3

El Paso County Commissioner Pct. 3, Willie Gandara

Guadalupe Bridge
NEW TORNILLO-GUADALUPE INTERNATIONAL BRIDGE, PORT OF ENTRY, AND ROADWAY PROJECT
August 2008
International Bridge:
The construction plans for the international bridge are completed and available to utilize for bidding as required. This includes a complete set of plans in English/English Units and Spanish/Metric Units. The entire bridge was designed based upon U.S. design criteria and translated/converted into plans acceptable to the Mexican Federal Government (SCT), by a Mexican engineering consultant.
The County and the Mexican agencies including SRE, SCT and INDAABIN met at the site on February 5, 2008, to confirm the physical alignment and bridge location. The international bridge is currently schedule for construction to begin in April 2011 and be completed by June 2012.
Port of Entry
The County and the Mexican agencies including SRE, SCT and INDAABIN met at the site on February 5, 2008, to confirm the physical alignment and bridge location. The international bridge is currently schedule for construction to begin in April 2011 and be completed by June 2012.
Major Arterial Roadway
Major Arterial Phase 1:
This portion of the major arterial roadway extends from the port of entry north to its intersection with SH 20 in Tornillo. Construction plans, at the 90% completion stage, have been submitted and reviewed by TxDOT. Construction of Phase 1 of the major arterial roadway is currently scheduled to begin in July 2009 and be completed by September 2010.
Major Arterial Roadway Phase 1A:
Phase 1A is a newly created phase for the roadway construction between SH 20 and the Island Tornillo Road. The purpose for this phase is to construct all of the maintenance crossings, one permanent buried irrigation line and channel lining in all of the crossings of the El Paso County Water Improvement District # 1 (EPCWID) right-of-way. EPCWID will be constructing most of the maintenance crossings and the buried irrigation pipe with their own forces, under an Inter-Local Agreement with the County. The remaining maintenance crossings and the channel lining (concrete riprap at six bridge locations) will be constructed by the County with a publicly bid contract. This work is scheduled to commence in November 2008 and be completed by the end of May 2009. Completion of the work for Phase 1A will allow unrestricted construction of the main highway, Phase 1, without need to restrict or stop the flow of irrigation waters in the canals/drains.
Major Arterial Roadway Phase 2&3:
This portion of the major arterial roadway project extends from SH 20 north to the intersection of IH 10 and current FM 3380 (O.T. Smith Road) (Phase 2), and includes a major bridge crossing SH 20 and the UPRR (Phase 3). Construction plans have been started, but at this time are only approximately 20% complete. Completion of the construction plans for Phase 2&3 is currently scheduled to occur no later than April 2010, with construction schedules between October 2011 and December 2012. The current plan is for TxDOT to administer the contracting and construction for these two phases of the project.
Misc. Utility/Support Items:
These items include necessary extensions of sanitary sewer, potable water, electrical, telephone utilities from their existing location to the port of entry and international bridge. Consultations have been ongoing with the various providers in the region, since 2003. The County has committed to GSA to provide, or facilitate the providing, of these utilities to the port of entry site, prior to completion of construction activities. All utilities are planned to enter the northeast corner of the POE site.
Mexico Progress/Coordination:
Consultation/coordination with various federal and state agencies in Mexico have been ongoing since late 2001. Recently, El Paso County officials and consultants met with officials from SCT, SRE, Indaabin, IBWC/CILA, and the State of Chihuahua on February 5, at the Bi-National Conference held in El Paso on February 12-14, 2008, and at a regional Bi-National Conference, in Monterrey, on June 2-3, 2008.
The SCT has a design project ongoing for concession/financial feasibility and final construction plans for the international bridge, port of entry and extension of the Juarez By-Pass to the project. This design project is scheduled for completion in October 2008.
The SCT presented project status jointly with the County at the most recent Bi-National meeting, and indicated in their presentation the timeline for completion of their portions of the project was early to mid 2012. They also indicated that funding would be obtained through a publicly bid concession (Public/Private Toll Concession) for construction and operation of the By-Pass and the International Bridge. The SCT also indicated that the State of Chihuahua already owns the required land for the Mexican POE and International Bridge head, and should make the donation to the federal government during 2008.
Timeline: