(C) El Paso Matters.org
This story was originally published by El Paso Matters.org and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .
El Paso lawmakers push for deck plaza funding from Texas Legislature [1]
['Diego Mendoza-Moyers', 'More Diego Mendoza-Moyers', 'El Paso Matters', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow', 'Class', 'Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus', 'Display Inline', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar', 'Where Img', 'Height Auto Max-Width']
Date: 2025-04-06
The proposed deck plaza that would cover Interstate 10 in Downtown El Paso could receive millions in state funding, as lawmakers from El Paso push to tuck dollars for the project into the final state budget that will likely pass in June.
The Texas Senate passed its version of the two-year statewide budget last week, and it calls to provide $10 million for the deck plaza that’s estimated to cost $207 million to build. That money “would cover the costs for development of construction documents” for the project, according to the Senate budget.
To make the deck plaza a reality, its supporters are trying to secure funding quickly – before the end of the legislative session and ahead of the Texas Department of Transportation starting construction on its own project to widen the Downtown segment of I-10 in 2027.
That way, the deck plaza could be built at the same time as TxDOT is conducting its costly renovation of El Paso’s main freeway.
“The I-10 deck park plaza project is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for our community. I was proud to initiate and spearhead this budget rider and garner the support for its inclusion in the Senate version of the state budget,” Sen. César Blanco, D-El Paso, said in a statement.
In Texas budget parlance, the term “rider” refers to budget items that have specific instructions on how the funding is used.
State Sen. César Blanco, D-El Paso, talked about the upcoming Legislative session during an El Paso Matters community conversation on Tuesday. (Angela Saavedra/El Paso Matters)
“This rider will get the ball rolling by paying for the design documents so the deck park can be constructed at the same time as the widening of I-10, which is expected to begin in 2027,” Blanco said.
The state senate’s budget calls for $336 billion in spending over two years. The Texas House of Representatives, meanwhile, is in the middle of crafting its version of the state budget. In the weeks ahead, the two bodies will reconcile differences before sending a final budget document to Gov. Greg Abbott to sign.
“Securing this funding in the Senate version of the state budget is a big deal, but the budget still needs to go through the House of Representatives and conference committee,” Blanco said, adding that he’s been working with state Rep. Joe Moody, D-El Paso, to secure deck plaza funding in the House’s version of the budget.
“We’re all working together and remain optimistic,” Blanco said.
State Rep. Mary Gonzalez, D-El Paso, who represents much of the Lower Valley, is vice chair of the House Appropriations Committee, which on Tuesday advanced the House’s $337 billion version of the budget.
Gonzalez didn’t respond to a request for comment.
“I’ve supported the deck park every step of the way, and I continue to support it,” Moody said in a statement. “As far as the budget, it’s a process — the next step of which is taking it up on the House floor in a week. In the meantime, it’s premature to comment on it beyond saying that I’m going to fight for the priorities El Pasoans care about.”
Receiving $10 million from the state could jumpstart the deck plaza, which until now has garnered support – from Mayor Renard Johnson and other elected officials and power brokers in El Paso – but little funding.
Local officials have said it would be easier to secure additional federal or state dollars for the deck plaza after detailed construction designs are completed.
Highway expansion in El Paso
TxDOT has said it expects to begin soliciting bids next year for the I-10 work Downtown – the next step in the agency’s billion-dollar expansion of the freeway, which has been ongoing in Northwest El Paso in recent years. And TxDOT has said it will build the retaining walls and pillars that will bear the weight of the deck atop the highway, which could cost between $90 million and $100 million.
The highway widening will also likely require TxDOT to buy and demolish properties along the freeway, such as on Yandell Drive.
Local officials and activists in El Paso have long criticized the agency’s choice to expand the freeway here. The construction has snarled traffic on the Westside for years, and expanding the freeway contributes to urban sprawl and runs counter to the city’s stated goal of making El Paso more dense and walkable and less car-dependent.
Transportation agencies in some other states have sought to move away from highway building, and toward minimizing the total number of miles that vehicles travel and vehicle-related air pollution.
TxDOT and transportation planners in El Paso, however, say the aging pavement and pillars along I-10 need to be updated and that the highway has to be expanded because the state agency’s computer models say traffic will get much worse in El Paso in the future without a bigger freeway.
El Paso’s place as a hub of trade and logistics means the region’s road transportation network is “the lifeblood of our economy,” Moody said during a panel discussion hosted by El Paso Matters in January.
“These are the arterials that move people and goods that allow our economy to thrive,” he said.
Local deck plaza funding?
In February, the El Paso City Council directed City Manager Dionne Mack to identify potential sources of local funding to advance the deck plaza, which could pair with the state’s funding. Mack is due to report back to city representatives sometime in the coming weeks.
Over the last year, Mack has expressed some skepticism about the deck plaza, and suggested the city has to improve basic services before considering funding a Downtown quality-of-life project. Hundreds of city job positions remain unfilled, and Mack regularly says the city’s $10 million annual street repair fund is short by almost $40 million per year compared with the need.
However, Johnson, who entered office in January, has made the deck plaza a key priority. He highlighted the project when he was interviewed in front of hundreds during a State of the City event at the convention center last month.
Mayoral candidate Renard Johnson answers questions at a candidate forum on Nov. 21, 2024. (Corrie Boudreaux/El Paso Matters)
“We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity with the deck plaza. We need to seriously look at getting that done, because other communities are building deck plazas,” Johnson said, highlighting the Klyde Warren Park that opened in 2012 and covers a central highway in downtown Dallas.
The Senate budget also included $10 million in funding directed to the Southern Gateway Deck Park, another deck-style project that officials in Dallas are in the process of building. The city of Austin is also seeking to develop a deck park over Interstate 35.
“The Klyde Warren deck plaza in Dallas is the number one tourist destination of Dallas, Texas. They already moved on to the other deck plazas. So is Austin, Texas. They’re going to be building a few deck plazas,” he said.
“So, our deck park can have open space on the top, bike trails, food courts, soccer fields, whatever we want to do as a community,” Johnson said. “We deserve it.”
There are a few sources of local funds city leaders could theoretically tap to direct some money for the deck park. In the past, the city has even used revenue from parking meters to pay off debt related to the Plaza Theatre.
Another source of cash is the city’s Texas Economic Development Fund, a pot of money established after El Paso Electric committed to provide the city with $80 million over 15 years to spur economic development here. In exchange, the City Council supported the acquisition of the utility in 2020 by a J.P. Morgan-owned investment fund.
As of the end of 2024, the so-called TED fund had a balance of $19 million, according to the city’s year-end report.
The biggest outlay from the fund so far is $12.5 million that the city is planning to use to improve road infrastructure near the big data center that Meta – the parent of Facebook and Instagram – is building in far Northeast El Paso.
“I do see (the TED fund) as a viable source of funding” for the deck plaza,
said District 3 city Rep. Deanna Maldonado-Rocha. “We’re trying to look for ways that are not going to impact the property tax owner. And that’s an opportunity, I feel, that is available.”
Deanna Maldonado-Rocha is sworn in as city representative for District 3 at the Plaza Theatre, Jan. 6, 2025. (Corrie Boudreaux/El Paso Matters)
Maldonado-Rocha also pointed out the big increase in property values – and tax revenues – that the development of the Klyde Warren Park spurred in downtown Dallas.
“People that want to do economic development here, they want that additional quality of life. In addition to the streets and everything else, they want to see those opportunities as well,” she said.
The El Paso City Council has already approved nearly $27 million in future commitments for the fund, which will expire in 2034, according to Karina Brasgalla, head of the city’s Economic Development Department.
“The updated funding strategy for the Downtown deck plaza is scheduled to go back to Council later this year,” Brasgalla said in an email. “While the TED fund isn’t expected to be a primary source, the strategy continues to emphasize federal and state support.”
A major uncertainty still is the role that wealthy philanthropists may play in the development of the deck plaza.
Private donors in Dallas put up $10 million in initial funding in 2006 to advance the Klyde Warren Park from an idea into a realistic project, and the state Legislature followed by contributing $20 million. Philanthropists have put up tens of millions of dollars to help develop the new Southern Gateway deck park.
“I am for it being paid by private funds,” District 7 city Rep. Lily Limón said of the deck project. “And if that’s available, certainly, I would support it.”
Limón said the $207 million construction cost estimate is uncertain, and there’s an open question of who will pay for ongoing maintenance and operations expenses after the park is built. Operations and maintenance costs for Klyde Warren Park were $1.4 million last year.
But most important, Limón said, is that her constituents have made clear their priority is lower property taxes.
“I was asked by my constituents, ‘Please, we need relief. We cannot continue to pay for vanity projects,’” Limón said.
“My biggest concern is when I hear, ‘We deserve it’ and I’m thinking that sounds like my daughter saying, ‘Hey, Mom, I deserve to have these great tennis shoes,’” she said, referring to Johnson’s comment. “‘I’m sorry, mijita, we don’t have the money to pay for those.’ That’s my thought.”
District 8 city Rep. Chris Canales has similarly opposed funding the deck plaza by issuing debt that would increase property taxes. And he said the TED fund should be used for more traditional job-creating economic development projects, not the deck plaza.
District 8 City Rep. Chris Canales speaks at a State of the City event on March 6, 2025. (Diego Mendoza-Moyers / El Paso Matters)
“Regardless of whether we have some local funding sources, (the deck plaza) is going to be super reliant on state and federal money. I don’t know if that money will be put up. So, at the cost that I’ve seen projected …
I want to be optimistic, but I have to be realistic about it,” Canales said.
“It’s possible, if (Johnson) is working on it and he can put together a package – maybe it comes from philanthropy instead. That would be very viable. I would love that,” Canales said. “But the realist in me says ‘It’d be a heck of a lot to bond out.’”
Still, El Paso’s top elected officials – including Blanco and Johnson, as well as County Judge Ricardo Samaniego and Congresswoman Veronica Escobar, D-El Paso – are largely aligned in support of the deck plaza, said Steve Ortega, an attorney and former city representative who has advocated for the deck plaza and other Downtown projects.
In 2021, Escobar helped El Paso get a $900,000 federal grant that paid for a preliminary design study for the deck park. And Samaniego last fall was the main advocate for El Paso County to sponsor the deck project and kick in $1 million as part of a match for a grant application El Paso ultimately didn’t win.
“This project only works if you get participation from the public and private sectors. That’s been the model in every single community where these have been built,” Ortega said.
An aerial rendering showing what the I-10 widening and modernization project would look like without the deck plaza. Attorney Steve Ortega said this outcome “would mean the community failed.” (Paso Del Norte Community Foundation)
“We have city leadership on board, along with philanthropic leadership,” he said. “I think we have the right people to get this done.”
To Ortega, the worst outcome would be if El Paso is left with a bigger, wider freeway in Downtown, but without a park and green space on top.
“That would mean the community failed,” he said.
[END]
---
[1] Url:
https://elpasomatters.org/2025/04/06/el-paso-downtown-deck-plaza-texas-legislature-funding/
Published and (C) by El Paso Matters.org
Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons CC BY-ND 4.0 International.
via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/elpasomatters/
