Loop 375 Border Highway

Created and last updated July 15, 2001

Also see: West border highway - 85/Paisano | IH-10/Loop 375 future stack interchange (TxDOT)

The Border Highway is actually a full access controlled 4-lane freeway that runs right alongside the US-Mexico border. The roadway is heavily fortified and patrolled to discourage illegal entry into the United States. You really can't see into Mexico from this roadway because the terrain is flat, the Rio Grande flood plain is wide, and there is a levee for the channelized Rio Grande River. In fact, you can hardly call the Rio Grande a river. It is more like an irrigation channel, as the photo below shows. The Border Highway features El Paso's newest section of freeway. The section from the Zaragosa border crossing to Interstate 10 was completed in late 2000 or early 2001. A full stack is planned for the interchange at Interstate 10 - see the offical TxDOT web site. An artist depiction of the future stack is shown at the bottom of this page. There are also plans to extend the border highway freeway westward along 85/Paisano west of downtown El Paso. Those plans are very preliminary and won't happen anytime soon. Traffic on this roadway was very light when I visited on Thursday, May 31, 2001. All the intersections feature stop signs at the access roads - there just isn't enough traffic to justify traffic signals. It was definitely a pleasure to drive an urban freeway that is practically deserted!

Photos start at downtown proceed eastward A. Driver's view looks westward near the western terminus of the freeway in downtown El Paso. Photo taken 31-May-2001. B. Looking westward at the 375/IH-110 interchange. Photo taken 31-May-2001. C. Interstate 110 is the main vehicular crossing into Mexico. On the Mexican side there is a very large Mexican flag. The flag can be seen from most of central El Paso. Photo taken 31-May-2001. (high resolution 105k) D. This looks eastward from just east of the 110 interchange. Photo taken 31-May-2001. E. What year is this? "Animal-drawn vehicles" prohibited? Even when I've been across the border, I've never even seen animal drawn vehicles in Mexico. This is not an isolated sign - every freeway entrance has one. Photo taken 31-May-2001. F. Driver's view looking west (inbound towards downtown). Mexico is on the left. If you look in the distance you can see what appears to be an entry ramp for the opposing traffic. That ramp is for Border Patrol vehicles only and connects to the patrol road on top of the levee. Photo taken 31-May-2001. (high resolution 102k) G. This looks westward from an overpass. Mexico is on the left. Photo taken 31-May-2001. H. Driver's view looking east (outbound) approaching the Fonseca road exit. Photo taken 31-May-2001. J. Driver's view on a typical overpass. Notice the the central barrier, which is artistically decorated. All freeway sections of Loop 375 use this style of barrier. Photo taken 31-May-2001. K. The Rio Grande river is just adjacent to the freeway. However, it really isn't much of a river. It has been channelized into a small concrete canal that looks like an irrigation canal. The water flow rate was very fast, however, as the warning sign suggests. Photo taken 31-May-2001. L. This view looks east, just west of the Zaragosa border crossing. Do you see that mast on the left with a television camera? That camera is not for monitoring vehicular traffic! Photo taken 31-May-2001. M. This sign warns pistol-packing Texans that going into Mexico with a gun can be bad news. These signs were recently (probably 1999) installed at all border crossings with Mexico. Evidently, a lot of Texas residents were getting into big trouble in Mexico. Photo taken 31-May-2001. (high resolution 127k) N. This looks northward at Socorro. This section of freeway is very new, having opened in late 2000 or early 2001. East of the Zaragosa crossing, Loop 375 has feeder roads. Photo taken 31-May-2001. (high resolution 112k) O. This looks northward at the end of the freeway just south of Interstate 10. Construction of the 375 main lanes over Interstate 10 should begin soon, maybe as early as summer 2002 according to the IH-10/Loop 375 interchange web site. Photo taken 31-May-2001. P. Aerial view of the existing interchange at IH-10 and Loop 375. A stack will be built here, probably in the 2005-2010 time frame. Aerial view is taken from the IH-10/Americas interchange web site. From the IH-10/Americas interchange offical web site, these photos show the existing Interstate 10 freeway and the planned stack at the Loop 375 interchange.