Feasibility study for Yarbrough Port of Entry

(Illustration by Keith Allyn Spencer / El Paso Times)


What does this mean?

Feasibility studies try to answer the following questions:

What exactly is the project? Is it practical? Can it be done?

El Paso MPO is currently in process of conducting a feasibiltiy study for a new Port of Entry between the Bridge of the Americas and the Zaragosa bridge. They have hired San Antonio consulting firm Structural Engineering Associates, Inc. MPO then directs the public to go to the SEA website to track progress of this study. That's all fine and good, but there are no projects listed on their page. Perhaps they are conducting the feasibility of whether they should even list projects on their website....Oh, SEA built the groundwork, sure enough...a project link that leads to nowhere.

The area of feasibility for the proposed Yarbrough POE is limited to this 9 to 10 mile stretch between 2 major bridges already in existence. Depending on which day of the week you talk to the MPO (or watch yet another of their varying powerpoint presentations) about this study, there are 5 main feasibility areas within this 10 mile stretch, or there are only 3 remaining areas still on the table for this study, or, wait...it's back up to 5 areas, and is or is not referred to as the Yarbrough Port of Entry. Who are they trying to fool? It's been called the Yarbrough Port of entry since day one, because every plan, map or idea about this proposed POE has been centered around the fact that Juarez already has an 8 lane highway to this ethereal bridge just waiting for a connection at Calle Francisco Villareal Torres, less than 2000 feet southwest of Yarbrough at Cesar Chavez as seen at the bottom left of the satellite map. Patrons of Shawver Park and Cowan Aquatic suffer enough as it is with proximity to Border Highway Traffic, let's just save them further suffering by building a bridge on top of it. Let's have another Glass Beach campaign while we're at it.

Why all this gnashing of teeth over a new bridge?

artwork by Sam Turner

Bridges are already woefully understaffed. We cannot keep the lanes available in operation as it is. We don't have the manpower to create fully functional Ports of Entry. Building more bridges will never solve this dilemma. It's a Federal offense, and City Council would better serve this community by pushing Silvestre Reyes, and Homeland Security to straighten out this mess, and fast. My Lower Valley neighbors don't want the added traffic going to and coming from that bridge. We have enough problems with traffic filtering off the Border Highway, and city council would like us to believe that alleviating traffic flow from other areas is going to decrease pollution in our area. We are already fighting EPA standards, and are not in compliance especially near our bridges. Okay, let's just add another red zone to the EPA map of non-compliance by building this bridge at Yarbrough. What's another non-compliance in the face of all the existing ones?

After weeks of research on the internet, trying to discover the scope of this plan, I found nothing but focus specifically on Yarbrough as the locale for the new bridge. Four renderings of the proposed bridge can be found in the presentation (BORDER CROSSINGS: Evaluation of ports of entry for the International border...) an MPO page that links to powerpoint downloads but nowhere can I find any other specualtive renderings for any other locale along this 10 mile corridor. This same presentation shows a map on page 7 with a mysterious green demarcation line squiggling along from Int'l airport in Juarez up Calle Fr. V. Torres and Yarbrough all along through Global Reach and on to El Paso Int'l Airport. Most MPO maps that show that bold green line are indicating major proposed road reconstruction, but MPO wishes us to believe that no major road is in the plans, and that no homes will be disturbed by building this new bridge in the lower valley.

I take umbrage to the cry of overreaction by our Mayor Cook,

and told him so at the city council meeting yesterday. If his wish is for non-action, then he's got another wish coming; that one just won't fly. When the MPO and the city decide to show the entire scope of their plans, and stop trying to mete them out to the public inch by inch of road, and penny by penny of taxation, perhaps we can all come to a better understanding of just what the hell is going on in our fair city. When city council members seem oblivious to the MPO process as I witnessed yesterday, something seriously needs to be addressed. When Steve Ortega asks where we are getting these maps, and we tell him MPO, he retorts that they are speculative theory, or wording to that effect. Mr. Ortega, all of this is supposedly speculative. Every last bit of it is speculative until your feasibility study has gone through the motions, and you are granted your bridge into the heart of our valley.

If, as Beto O'Rourke stated at yesterday's meeting, he would be glad to see this new bridge in his district, by all means, give it to him. They can build it right there downtown, and "revitilize" that area even further than planned. I'm sure his father-in-law, and Paul Foster will be overjoyed to have it there, and they can go ahead and build the "Cheesecake Factory" under it's shadow, so Chris Lopez will have a suitable place to eat. Danger, danger Will Robinson, all I see from these guys is "Crush, Kill, Destroy" all that was once magic in El Paso, Texas.



A boon to any business district, eh Beto? Well that just may be where a new bridge is needed. Not here in my valley where all we have are close-knit neighborhoods with homes, schools, and a precious few parks.

Other projects for Yarbrough already include the building of Park and Ride structures at Yarbrough and I-10 with CNG/LNG fueling station(project T405), and additional park and ride lots at Yarbrough and Montana (project T407), at Yarbrough and Montwood (project T408), at Yarbrough and North Loop (project T505), at Yarbrough and Bordey Highway (project T504). There are also plans to create an interchange at Yarbrough and North Loop (probably an overpass).


Is it feasible to add another International bridge here? Of course it's feasible. Merely cut out a small chunk of the fence, lay down a steel beam to span the cement channel, and voila, a bridge. A commuter bridge, no less! A bridge! Thank the Lord, another bridge; the answer to all of our worries.

Wait just a second. That won't work.

(photo by mekong.net)
You've got to make that bridge elevated for the ship traffic coming down the Rio Grande. "The reason is that the U.S. Coast Guard considers the Rio Grande to be a navigable river requiring bridges that ships can pass under the bridges." (David Crowder--Newspapertree, March 25, 2009) That's right. An elevated bridge to allow the hordes of KLAQ river-raft racers ample room to continue on their path to glory and the inevitable dousing of beer.
(photo stolen from haunting thunder blog)

Oops, I guess it has been many years since the Q sponsored a river raft race.

Probably just as many years as it's been since we had all the lanes opened on any of our ports of entry.

I say put it to a public vote, and not a vote from city hall.