Loop 375 (Texas)

Loop 375 is a beltway that partially encircles the city of El Paso, Texas. The beltway is mostly a freeway, except for its northern section, which includes at-grade intersections. The highway passes through various areas of El Paso, funneling traffic within and around the city. The road is known locally under different names, as Woodrow Bean Transmountain Drive in the northern section, Purple Heart Memorial Freeway in the northeastern section, Joe Battle Boulevard in the eastern section, the César Chávez Border Highway in the southern section, and the Border West Expressway on the southwest section.

Route description

Woodrow Bean Transmountain Drive

Loop 375 begins clockwise at an intersection with I-10 near Canutillo. Heading east, the highway enters and passes through the Franklin Mountains State Park and the Fort Bliss Castner Range before leaving at Northeast El Paso, where it meets US 54. The highway passes through Northeast El Paso before entering Fort Bliss.

The section through Franklin Mountains State Park includes many road cuts which expose outcrops of Precambrian rocks, which are some of the oldest in Texas.

Purple Heart Memorial Freeway

After entering Fort Bliss, the highway bypasses Biggs Army Airfield to the north and east, and meets Spur 601 east of the airfield, before leaving at an intersection with US 62/US 180 in Southeast El Paso.

Joe Battle Boulevard

After leaving Fort Bliss, the highway passes through Southeast El Paso, heading south through residential neighborhoods, before curving southwest to meet I-10 at a stack interchange. Continuing southwest, the highway passes through more neighborhoods before meeting the El Paso Ysleta Port of Entry.

César Chávez Border Highway

After meeting the El Paso Ysleta Port of Entry, the highway curves northwest, following the Mexican border along the Rio Grande. Heading into downtown, the highway intersects US 54 at an interchange, passing unter the El Paso BOTA Port of Entry. The highway continues west into downtown, ending at US 62/US 85 Paisano Drive in downtown.

Border West Expressway

From downtown, the most recent part of Loop 375, the Border West Expressway, passes through the narrow gap between UTEP and the Mexican border, elevated above the railroad tracks between Interstate 10 and US Route 85 (the CanAm Highway). The project is intended as an alternate route to I-10 to relieve traffic congestion in and around downtown El Paso. Funding and construction of the project began in September 2007. The highway is proposed to be a four lane toll road. In March 2018, the original completion date estimate of late 2017 was pushed back to May 2019. The new expressway opened for traffic on October 3, 2019, without tolls initially although it is intended to be a toll road.

Originally described as a ''Loop 375 extension'', the project was named as Border West Expressway in 2014. On completion, signs show it as part of Loop 375.

File:Border West Expressway pano from UTEP.jpg, A panoramic view from Sun Bowl Drive at the University of Texas at El Paso, toward the nearby residential neighborhood of Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico, about 350 m away. This pass full of transportation arteries is the "Paso del Norte" after which El Paso is named, the route of the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro (royal road of the interior land) from Mexico to Santa Fe. In this narrow valley are the Interstate 10 freeway, the under-construction (in August 2018) Border West Expressway, the Union Pacific and BNSF railroads, US Highway 85 (Paisano Drive, CanAm Highway), a border fence, the American Canal, and the Rio Grande. The new expressway will mostly occupy space above the railroad tracks.
File:Border West Expressway pano Jan 2019.jpg, January 2019 construction progress. Note the new ramp behind the UTEP Miners' pickaxe sculpture. This ramp and elevated roadway will carry the westbound lanes of the new expressway; the eastbound lanes are at grade, on the far side of the train tracks.
File:Border West Expressway from Porfirio Diaz ramp Jan 2019.jpg, January 2019 view of another segment, from the Porfirio Diaz Street– Interstate 10 interchange ramp. The border fence, Rio Grande, and Ciudad Juarez are visible under the new elevated roadway.

History

Loop 375 was designated on January 26, 1962, from I-10 southeastward, eastward, southeastward, and southward to the Zaragosa International Bridge. On January 1, 1965, the section of FM 259 from I-10 to US 80 (now SH 20) became part of Loop 375. On April 1, 1968, Loop 375 was extended northwestward 12.5 miles, and the section to the Zaragosa International Bridge became a spur connection. On January 29, 1991, the section from SH 20 northeast to Loop 375 was also added, which when constructed, the old route of Loop 375 was to be deleted. On April 24, 2008, this section was deleted, but was restored as Spur 276 on July 31, 2008, but this was changed to Spur 16 on July 26, 2012, probably due to a reference to the old Loop 16.

Future

The Texas Department of Transportation announced plans to add toll lanes to the Border Highway portion of Loop 375 between Downtown El Paso and the Ysleta–Zaragoza International Bridge.

In 2012, construction commenced on an upgrade of the Transmountain Drive section of Loop 375. This expansion was controversial, as this section passes through the protected Franklin Mountains State Park.

Exit list

File:Transmountain Road cut.jpg, The largest road cut on Transmountain Drive, at the mile-high crest of Smuggler's Pass
File:Loop 375 Border West Expressway and I-10 in west El Paso.jpg, Border West Expressway and I-10 in west El Paso
File:Border West Expressway aerial detail.jpg, This aerial view of the Mexico–US border near the Sun Bowl stadium in El Paso, Texas, shows the state of construction of the Border West Expressway crossing above the railroad tracks (center), in December 2017. The neighborhood at the lower left is in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico.

See also

* List of state highway loops in Texas

References

External links

*

Loop 375 Border Highway

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Transportation in El Paso County, Texas
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Transportation in El Paso, Texas