EL PASO, Texas — El Paso City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to look at keeping some heavy trucks off Transmountain Road, a step that follows a deadly crash on the mountain highway earlier this month.
City Rep. Alejandra Chávez, whose district covers the Upper Valley and the west side, sponsored the item, which directs staff to team up with the state’s highway agency, TxDOT, on more safety changes. That includes studying whether alternate truck routes are workable, checking what state and federal rules allow and laying out what it would take to put limits in place. Any route the city proposes would go to TxDOT, which decides whether it is safe for semis.
The city also plans to ask TxDOT to take another look at speed limits, post signs barring commercial vehicles from the left lane and consider brake temperature checks. The city manager and city attorney have 30 days to come back with findings and a proposed plan.
The Oct. 19 crash near Interstate 10 at Transmountain killed one man and injured nine others after a semi lost its brakes and struck several vehicles. Police Chief Peter Pacillas then ordered inspections of all commercial vehicles using the road under an effort the El Paso Police Department calls Enough is Enough, and county and state officers are adding patrols.
Chávez said TxDOT has told her it intends to build a second runaway truck ramp on the mountain’s western slope, using a truck arresting system, with an opening expected next summer. It would join the mechanical runaway ramp that opened in July, the first of its kind in Texas, which uses netting built to stop a 90,000-pound truck moving at 90 mph.
City leaders said the review ties into El Paso’s Vision Zero Action Plan, which aims to end traffic deaths and serious injuries.
Section: More El Paso TX crime news
Filed under: El Paso TX Traffic News
