Adios, You Lying Lame Duck Carpetbagger

The word on the street is that lame duck carpetbagger Andrea Hutchins of the El Paso Chamber has organized letters in support of a Multimodal Project Discretionary Grant for the I-10 widening project.

Remember, this project was labelled one of the nation’s worst boondoggles. From ElPasoTimes.com:

The Interstate 10 expansion project through Downtown El Paso is gaining recognition, but it’s likely not the kind advocates would hope for.

The Public Interest Research Group — a national think tank focused on issues like public health, transportation and consumer protection — recently identified the El Paso interstate project as one of the worst “boondoggles” in the nation.

. . .

The Public Interest Research Group provides a number of reasons for the project’s moniker, including that the Texas Department of Transportation’s forecasts for increased traffic along the corridor are inaccurate.

Additionally, the report notes the myriad concerns from El Paso residents over the impact the Downtown I-10 expansion will have on neighborhoods, homes and businesses in the area.

. . .

“According to TxDOT, peak afternoon traffic on the highway of around 200,000 vehicles per day in 2018 will increase by 50% over the next two decades, rising to 300,000 by 2042,” the group wrote in its report. “However, traffic data from 2003 to 2019 show that annual average daily traffic volume (AADT) on this stretch of highway over this period has remained almost exactly constant. In 2021, AADT dropped to a low of 155,000.” 

“While this is consistent with the broader decline in commuter traffic due to the pandemic and the rise of remote working,” the report continued, “even if volumes rise again, long-term trends indicate that TxDOT’s projection of 300,000 is likely to be a major overestimate.”

Apparently, the boondoggle label was no deterrent for Ms. Hutchins, who liberally played fast and loose with the truth in the Chamber’s opposition to Proposition K, the “Climate Charter.”

Under Ms. Hutchins’ leadership, the El Paso Chamber claimed that passing Proposition K would result in a two billion dollar cost for El Paso taxpayers as it mandated the purchase of the electric utility by the city. In truth, the proposition only ordered that the city undertake a study of the municipalization of El Paso Electric.

Ms. Hutchins’ husband is Army Col. Micah Hutchins. He’s being reassigned from Fort Bliss to Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state.

I reckon the Army knows something about boondoggles. Maybe Ms. Hutchins should talk to her husband.