New road construction in Coronado area (El Paso, West: apartments, crime, credit)

[atrabilius]

Seen today on the El Paso Times website:

The development of a new commercial and apartment area off Resler Drive at Interstate 10 has raised concerns among residents of West El Paso, said Charlie Wakeem, president of the Coronado Neighborhood Association.

Southwest Land Development Services Inc. is developing 80 acres, including a new road that will run from Resler Drive to Desert Trail Drive. The road eventually will extend to Belvidere Street.

Wakeem said that the Resler on-ramp to I-10 East is already a dangerous, curving, downhill, high-speed arterial and that development in the area will add more traffic to it.

"It's a very dangerous location to put another access road," Wakeem said.

Doug Schwartz, CEO of Southwest Land Development Services, said the developed area will have apartment, retail and office space.

He said the new road will offer an alternative route for drivers and will alleviate traffic problems in the area.

"If I-10 gets backed up, (drivers) will be able to get off Resler Drive into the new road," he said.

...

A Google satellite map of the area around Desert Trail Drive, which goes south off North Mesa Street to Belvidere Drive near Coronado High School.


I'm guessing they're actually looking to build an extension of Gem Street, which currently goes off Remcon Circle to Belvidere, beyond Belvidere to South Resler. That way people getting off I-10 at Resler would have an alternate route to Mesa and points north; instead of just going straight north on Resler, they could turn left on Gem and take it west to Belvidere or Remcon.

And yes, if you can't get off both I-10 east and west at Resler, maybe they do need to fix that. And maybe also build frontage roads on the section of I-10 from Mesa south to West Schuster Avenue while they're at it.

[Gary Siete]

That will be nice short-cut between downtown and Walmart/Cinemark/new bus station - avoiding the busy Mesa/I10 intersection. Unless they have something clever planned that will be a dangerous intersection at Resler/new road - that's a fast downhill on-ramp merging from 2 to 1 lane.

[malamute]

For some reason I thought that new development was supposed to be pedestrian oriented - for old people or something who don't drive - they would have everything anyone could ever want all right there, including a Walmart.

[Gary Siete]

Originally Posted by malamute

For some reason I thought that new development was supposed to be pedestrian oriented - for old people or something who don't drive - they would have everything anyone could ever want all right there, including a Walmart.

Are you thinking of the planned "smart-growth" Monticello community at Mesa/Argonaut? I have doubts about it's success. "Smart growth" is typically a tax break scheme for developers. The idea of an urban village sounds nice but I doubt there will be enough business to support more than a convenience store. It's mixed use apartments/homes but why would a home owner want to buy next door to apartments. More walkways/less roads also sounds nice but often leads to increased crime & drug activity as it provides safe havens from road bound police cars. The big parking garage will be magnet for crime and nogoodniks and the development will go downhill with undesirables.
Just my 2 cents.

El Paso’s First Major Smart-Growth Development May Hinge on Tax Breaks

Expecting to spend $575 million on their transit-oriented Monticello village, which could include stores, restaurants, offices and open space, along with 2,595 apartments, 379 townhouses and 117 single-family homes, the developers want the city to create a Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone (TIRZ) and issue more than $50 million in infrastructure bonds. They also count on $4.4 million to secure a match from a federal tax credit program for commercial development

[malamute]

Originally Posted by Gary Siete

Are you thinking of the planned "smart-growth" Monticello community at Mesa/Argonaut?

Probably that's what I was thinking of - I don't follow all these too much - I hate to see the open space get filled.

[emmapeel]

i have lived since 1999 without a car -- loving every minute of it -- and find it totally unfathomable that monticellos is going to equate to "green," or "smart" in any way. to the person who felt it would be pedestrian-friendly with a walmart -- no way is another walmart going to open that close to the one that's already off mesa just about 2 miles away.

i live on west side and LOVE my location. i can walk to stores, banks, post office, restaurants, sbux -- anything you'd need. if i need to ride sun metro -- to whom i say hooray and i say boo to anyone who could give up a car and ride... sun metro delivers me straight to my door.

people need to wake up. the first overwhelming global problem is over population. judicious use of birth control fixes a helluva lot of crap. choosing a GOOD location to live where you can walk to everything you need or have a less-than-5-minute-with-no-transfers bus ride to work or anywhere you need to go daily... that's green. that's smart.

[malamute]

Originally Posted by emmapeel

i have lived since 1999 without a car -- loving every minute of it -- and find it totally unfathomable that monticellos is going to equate to "green," or "smart" in any way. to the person who felt it would be pedestrian-friendly with a walmart -- no way is another walmart going to open that close to the one that's already off mesa just about 2 miles away.

i live on west side and LOVE my location. i can walk to stores, banks, post office, restaurants, sbux -- anything you'd need. if i need to ride sun metro -- to whom i say hooray and i say boo to anyone who could give up a car and ride... sun metro delivers me straight to my door.

people need to wake up. the first overwhelming global problem is over population. judicious use of birth control fixes a helluva lot of crap. choosing a GOOD location to live where you can walk to everything you need or have a less-than-5-minute-with-no-transfers bus ride to work or anywhere you need to go daily... that's green. that's smart.

Not everyone is lucky enough to find a job that is 5 minutes walking distance to where they live. And not everyone has work hours that make it possible to use the bus.

As far as birth control - fine but most of our very rapid population growth is not from Americans giving birth, it's from very massive immigration, and that is certainly true of El Paso.

[TexasCCW]

Originally Posted by emmapeel

people need to wake up. the first overwhelming global problem is over population. judicious use of birth control fixes a helluva lot of crap.

Here we go with the birth control again!

[gonetoelpaso]

yea, El Paso's Public Transportation system is as dependable as a Baseball Player with no arms