EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — Business owners in the Five Points District of Central El Paso are sounding the alarm, fearing they won’t survive a year of back-to-back construction projects set to overhaul Piedras Street.
Advocates and local merchants are pushing back hard against the looming infrastructure work, arguing that the prolonged street closures and traffic delays could put an end to their livelihoods.
“It’s going to be terrible. It’s going to present a lot of challenges for the businesses around here to survive,” Toni Assael, owner of Morra Mia Restaurant, said. “[The good flow of traffic from I-10 to here] is very important for the functioning of our businesses, especially a business like mine that we serve lunch. [A lot] of people from downtown come here for lunch, and they usually have like a short time to eat. So they need to be in and out of here quickly. They don’t want to be concerned with being stuck in traffic, and a problem like this, closing down Piedras, first for the water project that is estimated to be about 4 to 5 months, and then a closing of an additional ten months if everything stays on schedule for the city project.”
The disruptions begin on Monday, June 15, when El Paso Water takes over Piedras Street to replace aging water mains. The utility will shut down parts of the northbound lanes between Pershing Drive and Tularosa Avenue, tying up traffic for an estimated 18 weeks.
Denise Parra, Public Affairs officer for El Paso Water, described the project as a proactive step to improve the reliability of customers’ water services…