EPISO/BI members who live on Bauman Road in Socorro have been working tirelessly for over a year to keep their homes from being demolished. The City of Socorro and TXDOT have been planning to construct an arterial connection to the 1-10 that may run through their homes. Leaders and neighbors are calling on the City and TXDOT to choose a route that affects fewer families, and avoids displacing those who are elderly and on limited incomes.
[Excerpt]
Neighbors in Socorro are fighting against a road expansion project that they say would end up demolishing about 100 of their homes.
The road expansion project, called Arterial 1, would connect Socorro Road to Interstate 10 by turning a two lane road into four.
There are different alternatives to the project but community advocate Lorena Silvestre, the leader of the El Paso Interreligious Sponsoring Organization (EPISO) says one would affect more residents than the other.
"One of them ...pass[es] along the Bauman Road and Vineyard Road and then alternative two and three goes further down to Clint," said Silvestre.
Longterm Socorro Residents Concerned That Road Project Could Displace Them, KTSM [pdf]
Socorro Neighbors Unite Against Road Project Threatening Their Homes, KFOX14 [pdf]
[Press from 2023 below]
EPISO/Border Interfaith Leads Outcry Against City of Socorro Project That Threatens to Demolish Local Homes
[Excerpt]
“Our community has heard from hundreds of residents who are opposed to this route, and many have just learned in the last few weeks that their homes may potentially be lost,” said Lorena Silvestre, a leader with EPISO/Border Interfaith and local resident. “Of the three routes proposed, this one clearly hurts the most people who are elderly, Spanish-speaking and on limited income. These are families that built their homes with their own hands.
We do not accept the argument that this is the “best route” to alleviate traffic. This is just the route [City of Socorro] thinks people will not fight back. They are wrong.”
[Photo Credit: Corrie Boudreaux, El Paso Matters]
Socorro Road Plan Causes Fear, Confusion for Residents, El Paso Matters
Socorro Residents Reject Displacement Amidst Texas Department of Transportation’s Arterial Project 1, El Paso Herald-Post [pdf]
Socorro Residents Rally to Save Homes from Looming Infrastructure Project, KFox14 [pdf]
Siembra Plan Vial Incertidumbre en Socorro, El Diaro de El Paso [pdf]
Residentes en Socorro, Texas Temen Que Sus Hogares Sean Destruidos Para un Proyecto de Carretera, Univisión