El Paso’s ‘Bridge to Nowhere’ Will Be Demolished

Photo Courtesy of David O. Garcia

I'm born and raised in El Paso which makes sense why I'm the station's traffic reporter. One of the questions people ask me all the time is,' Hey, where does that random bridge go to on the west side?' You know it, the bridge you see right before you reach the Sunland Park exit. It's called the Buena Vista Bridge and really doesn't lead to anything.

The 'Bridge to Nowhere' was originally built to connect homes in the Buena Vista community in the early 1960's. Those homes were eventually razed because the city needed to build a dam. Since then, city officials have kept the bridge locked to traffic.

Back in 2011, The Texas Department of Transportation admitted to our news partners at ABC 7 the bridge was useless.The bridge survived the wrecking ball for years because officials said it would cost a lot of money to remove it and it would require Interstate 10 to be shut down for an extended period of time. Well it's time to say goodbye because it's being demolished.

This week, Go 10 crews have started to making columns and installing new bridge beams. According to project officials, 29 bridges are located within the Go 10 project. The $158 million project isn't expected to be completed until 2019.

Interstate 10 will remain open until crews are ready to demolish the bridge. No date has been set. Remember, Interstate 10 will be shut down during that time so be aware of that. Check back for updates and in the meantime look at the final design below.