The Texas Dept. of Transportation last year received an unsolicited proposal from J.D. Abrams LP, Austin, to finance, design and build Spur 601, otherwise known as the Inner Loop, connecting U.S. 54 to Loop 375. It will create a second main entrance for the U.S. Army’s Fort Bliss.
About 21,000 troops currently commute back and forth to the base due to a lack of housing there. The 1.12-million-acre military training installation straddling Texas and New Mexico is undergoing a $3.1-billion expansion that will triple its present troops by 2013. “We had the project in schematic design for some time but lacked the money to build it,” says David Head, director of construction for TxDOT’s El Paso District.