I-10 On the Westside Should Just be Declared a Disaster Zone on Sundays

Seriously, what the H E Double Hockey Sticks is going on with 1-10 on the west side of El Paso?

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Specifically, between Redd and, let’s say, the New Mexico state line. It’s a nightmare that you can’t wake up from.

Sure, they’re doing work on the interstate, I get that. They’re doing it on the weekends to minimize work-day traffic, I also get THAT. But, if they’re going to shut down the ENTIRE eastbound interstate like they did last Sunday, they need to do a better job of letting us know.

I already know that this stretch has been a tangle for what seems like years now. That’s why I was planning to get off well before the Transmountain exit by the Outlet Shops. I SHOULD have gotten off that cursed highway back near Anthony Zero, or even back at Vado.

I’d already driven about an hour and twenty minutes from Alamogordo. It took me ANOTHER hour and twenty to get the rest of the way which was about 5 miles.

Everybody had to exit. Every car, RV, Semi, and motorcycle had to detour down to Doniphan/New Mexico 480. There were multiple spots where it was down to just one lane. It was like a kind of torture, especially if you had to pee!

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Go 10

So, I’ve vented. But are there any solutions? I’ve thought of a couple.

1.) Get the signs to warn you about this disaster area WELL BEFORE THE POINT OF NO RETURN.

They’ve got those cutesy signs with clever holiday wordplay. They should make all of those flash the words “Abandon hope, all ye who enter here” in the biggest digital font they can muster.

2.) Make an Amber alert, except for when I-10 is closed.

We all get the Amber Alerts and I hope they have done some good. If they find one lost kid, it’s worth it. It would be worth it to have a similar alert when the interstate is closed. Send it to everyone within a hundred-mile radius, as if a nuclear bomb had detonated. They should also use that screechy sound that makes Amber alerts impossible to ignore.

3.) Have grief counselors standing by the side of the road.

Everybody was extremely frustrated. Some looked homicidal or suicidal. A little encouragement would go a long way. They could even hand out empty Gatorade bottles for stranded drivers to pee into.

4.) Just come right out and level with us

How long is that stretch of I-10 going to be effed? Is it six months? Three years? Just tell us the truth so we know to avoid it…for however long it takes.