Highway officials considering bridge over railroad line

Highway officials are considering building a bridge to eliminate US 70/84 traffic at the New Mexico and Texas stateline. On Thursday, the Department of Transportation sought the public's perspective of the proposed project to residents who expressed concerns.

Department of Transportation officials in Texas and New Mexico have been discussing for months a bridge that would "span the existing railroad line and allow the traveling public to experience continuous traffic flow without train delays" between Texico and Farwell.

Officials in the summer offered two options – a Texas-only bypass north of Farwell or a bridge over U.S. 70/84 where heavy traffic routinely backs up when an average of 72 trains travel between Clovis and Amarillo daily.

Though the construction process is predicted to begin in 2030, Farwell business owners and residents such as Tammy Jones and her husband Steve are concerned on how this will affect their livelihood.

Jones said she's heard stories of "businesses dying" due to road construction. She said though the DOT has promised to make detours during the construction process, she doubts it will alleviate the pain businesses will feel from this change.

"As soon as you make it less convenient for customers to attend local businesses, the business begins to see everlasting effects... It doesn't matter if there are detours, this will forever change Farwell and I'm not sure if it's for the better," Jones said.

Jones said change can be good in some sense, but with the current schematics she's not sure if anyone would want to stop by in Farwell once the bridge is built.

Farwell resident Brenda Williams said she's attended every meeting since the project was announced and her biggest concern is how traffic will bleed into residential streets.

"I've lived here my whole life and I'm just worried how the traffic will go into the neighborhoods," Williams said.

TXDOT Public Information Officer Dianah Ascencio said the project is still in the schematic design and environmental clearance phase, which won't be complete until 2025. She said once the project starts in 2030, the construction period is predicted to take up to three to four years.

Ascencio said detour routes are still being thought out as highway officials want to ensure the safety of residents as well as push forward with the project.

If constructed over the highway, officials have said the bridge would be approximately 23 feet high with two travel lanes in each direction.

DOT officials said reasons for a bridge include:

• Enhance the traffic mobility for emergency responders in the communities.

• Provide a safer crossing for roadway users by eliminating the railroad crossing at the state line.

• Reduction of delayed traffic and congestion at streets attempting to enter U.S. 60, US 70/84 in the communities of Texico and Farwell.

• Reduce the potential for train versus pedestrian and train versus vehicle crashes.

• Eliminate train delays which will improve access on U.S. 60/70/84.

Grant McGee of the News contributed to this report.