El Paso secures funding to advance Interstate 10 deck plaza design

El Paso city officials have secured an agreement and additional funding from the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) to advance the $207 million Downtown Deck Plaza project in downtown El Paso. 

The Advanced Funding Agreement (AFA), signed during its March 3 meeting, will help kickstart the project. While $84 million has been secured to build the deck plaza, the project is still a far cry from receiving the full funding needed to include all components.    

The agreement would secure roughly $10 million for TxDOT to progress design development. The process would encompass design and construction documents for the 6.5-acre Interstate 10 Deck Plaza, resulting in a structure spanning the freeway main lanes and creating a signature public space. The city would provide a $561,001 local match. 

Notably, this AFA would only pertain to the tunnel design for the deck plaza’s underlying structure. The proposed design would cover structural enhancements to proposed I-10 walls and the overall tunnel structure – including center columns. Additional components would include tunnel ventilation, life safety systems, illumination, utility engineering and traffic engineering. 

The holistic vision of the completed project will feature several high-quality amenities. These include building an amphitheater, field house, dog park and playgrounds. Additional plans may include establishing hike and bike trails to connect the deck plaza to local neighborhoods and facilitating the development of more than 1,700 housing units nearby. The project will be divided into four phases, with some components being completed through public-private partnerships (P3). 

An associated foundation has launched a community-engagement campaign to keep residents looped in on the project’s progress and vision. “Elevate the 10” promotes project transparency by inviting the community to learn about the project through community meetings, neighborhood events, videos and digital outreach. 

Photo by Joseph Fuller from Pexels