West El Paso I-10 Expansion on Hold

The contractor who won the bid to do all the I-10 expansion work around Executive Center walked off the job. Sorry, gotta go, nice working with you. Bye.  WTF?

Mexican firm Grupo Tradeco held $470 million dollars worth of Texas Department of Transportation contracts. Being an American company wasn't a requirement for these bids, only that the winning company be the lowest bidder and properly bonded. Everything was going fine when the company suddenly bailed.

GrupoTradeco quit the El Paso gig after a Houston group filed a $19.95 million dollar federal lawsuit against them. Default papers were filed against Grupo on three other Texas highway projects. The company also has some issues in Mexico.

According to Rep. Joe Pickett, chairman of the House Transportation Committee, TxDOT will work with the bonding company to get subcontractors working on the project. Initially, it was to take about 4 years. No telling how long it will take now.