Highway Underpass To Be Built To Access Franklin Mountains State Park

It looks like there is going to be some major construction happening soon at Franklin Mountains State Park:

Local and state parks and wildlife officials say they have a solution that will make the entrance to Franklin Mountains State Park safe for both motorists and animals.

After reviewing six alternatives that only included proposals from the public and the Texas Department of Transportation, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department experts — including representatives from El Paso — ultimately decided on an underpass with exits on each side of a four-lane divided highway to provide access to the park. The alternatives were evaluated based on safety, environmental concerns and cost-effectiveness.

The recommendation will not necessarily be the final design, Texas Department of Transportation officials said. The transportation department still plans to seek public input at a meeting March 12 at Canutillo High School with a preferred alternative selected later in the summer. The project will be put to bid in January 2014, project engineer Tony Uribe said.

TxDOT will pay for the design, Parks and Wildlife Senior Project Manager Corky Kuhlmann said, and the one recommended by Kuhlmann and Franklin Mountains State Park is estimated to cost just more than $9 million. Texas Parks and Wildlife on Thursday approved a transfer of 7.7 acres of Franklin Mountains State Park land to the department of transportation for the project.  [El Paso Times]

You can read the rest  at the link, but this underpass is something that has long been needed for the Franklin Mountains State Park.  This underpass is even more needed with the plan to expand Transmountain Road to four lanes through the park.  The turn off into and out of the park is already dangerous during periods of heavy traffic with the current two lane road.  So hopefully the environmentalists do not kill this project because I believe the park really needs it for public safety reasons.

For those who have never been to the Franklin Mountains I do highly recommend checking the park out if ever in El Paso.  It really is an awesome park to have right in the middle of such a major city as El Paso.  You can read more about the park at the below links:

• Franklin Mountains – Anthony’s Nose
• Franklin Mountains – B-36 Crash Site
• Franklin Mountains – McKelligon Canyon
• Franklin Mountains – North Franklin Mountain
• Franklin Mountains – South Franklin Mountain
• Franklin Mountains – Snow On North Franklin Mountain (Oct 09)
• Franklin Mountain Snow (Nov 09)
• Franklin Mountains: West Cottonwood Spring