Dear TxDOT,

Increasing traffic on I-10 will increase air pollution and disease.

Let's improve air quality instead!

Love, El Paso

Problem

TxDOT's new project will increase traffic, air pollution, and disease

The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) wants to spend hundreds of millions of dollars widening the freeway near downtown El Paso, when what we really need is clean air.

Out of 80 US cities, El Paso ranks:

Solution

Send interstate traffic around El Paso

We can reduce congestion on I-10 by redirecting interstate traffic north on the new Borderland Expressway.

Send interstate traffic around El Paso

  • Reduce traffic congestion
  • Improve air quality
  • Reduce semitruck traffic in El Paso
  • Safer roads and healthy air

Add lanes to I-10 through downtown

  • More traffic will drive on I-10, creating more air pollution
  • More air pollution will increase rates of asthma, diabetes, and heart disease
  • We'll need to add even more lanes in the future, like on I-10 through Houston that has 26 lanes!

Here's what you can do!

Email your elected officials

2020
2020

TxDOT is currently doing an Environmental Impact Study to explore how adding lanes to the freeway will affect air quality in El Paso. Since there are no air quality monitors downtown, TxDOT will "model pollution levels" using air quality monitors over two miles away! This is alarming because when air quality monitors were located downtown years ago, they consistently measured the highest levels of air pollution in El Paso.

Please email your elected officials to ask them:

FAQs & Sources

What is the TxDOT's Downtown-10 project?

A section of I-10 through downtown needs resurfacing from Copia to Executive, and TxDOT is also planning long-term transportation solutions for El Paso. They're considering adding lanes to I-10 through downtown, but there's also a "No Build" option that won't add lanes. Before TxDOT selects an option, the federal government requires an environmental study to be completed to ensure that the project won't harm our air quality and our health.

Sources

TxDOT

Won't adding lanes reduce congestion on I-10?

Research shows that building more roads and highways does not reduce congestion. This counterintuitive phenomenon is called "induced demand." When roadways and highways are expanded, people tend drive more frequently, resulting in more traffic on the road and the same level of congestion as before.

Adding lanes can reduce drive times temporarily, but induced demand will eventually kick back in unless there are fundamental changes to how we approach our transportation networks.

Sources

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and MedicineCalifornia Department of TransportationBloomberg CityLab

Do vehicles produce less pollution when they're traveling faster?

No, vehicles emit more pollution the faster they travel. That's because more gas is used to reach higher speeds in order to overcome increasing wind resistance. For example, driving at a speed of 70 mph uses 26% more gas than driving at 50 mph. Research has shown that reducing traffic volume and speed reduces air pollution, noise, and energy use.

Sources

National Academies of ScienceWired

How does air pollution affect our health in El Paso?

El Paso Ranks 12th for high ozone days out of 226 metropolitan areas. Also known as "smog", ozone is emitted by motor vehicles, chemical plants, refineries, factories, gas stations, and other sources. It's dangerous for our health because it causes respiratory harm (e.g., worsens asthma, COPD, inflammation), is likely to cause early death, and is likely to cause heart attacks, strokes, and heart disease.

PM 2.5 pollution is another type of pollution emitted by motor vehicles that likely increases rates of diabetes. Neighborhoods downtown are surrounded by I-10, Loop 375, and the international bridges. Areas at lower elevations south of the freeway have the highest rates of chronic diseases and poor health in El Paso.

Rates of fair or poor health in El Paso

Centers for Disease Control 2022

Sources

American Lung AssociationEnvironmental Protection AgencyCenters for Disease Control

About Us

Dear TxDOT is a project by the Rio Grande Neighborhood Association located north of downtown and east of UTEP. We work to build interest in the welfare of our neighborhood and collaborate to find solutions.

Please contact us if you'd like to get involved with our community projects!