Last August on the Border Highway, a section of Loop 375 in El Paso, Texas, an Ecuadorian woman was killed while running across it. This state-owned highway runs along the nation’s binational border with Ciudad Juaréz, Mexico, and it is not only one of the largest roadways in El Paso, but is also one of the city’s most dangerous.

From 2017 to 2024, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) reported 57 traffic crashes and 28 fatalities involving pedestrians on this highway alone. Most of the deaths involved migrants crossing the Border Wall, then running across the highway, where they were met with speeding cars and multiple wide lanes.

While the El Paso community has borne witness to these deaths for years, TxDOT has taken far too long to add simple safety features to stop pedestrians from crossing this dangerous highway. The lesson learned is simple: state departments of transportation (DOT) should (1) hand back power and money to localities to innovate on local roads and (2) rigorously collaborate with regional entities and coalitions on state-owned highway improvements.

TxDOT’s failed attempts at saving the highway

In 2022, TxDOT erected 10 “Watch For Unexpected Pedestrians” signs along the highway after a 12-year-old Mexican girl was struck and killed by a car. Far more deaths came before this event, and unfortunately many more ensued afterward. Additional changes didn’t come again until 2024, when TxDOT erected real-time sensors, cameras, and light-up dynamic messaging signage, warning drivers of unexpected pedestrian crossings. These safety improvements came alongside messaging from local authorities asking the public to remain vigilant and to avoid distractions, such as phone usage while driving.

Despite the myriad of deaths on this highway, data about these crashes continues to be egregiously incomplete. Information beyond basic details of the crash, such as injury severity, area type, and lighting conditions, is left out of local and national crash databases. Furthermore, underreporting is rampant within highway crash data as non-fatal and hit-and-run crashes are often left out.

The border highway was built in 1962. Migration has always been a central component of the region. Considering one of the eight main emphasis areas of TxDOT’s Strategic Highway Safety Plan is to protect vulnerable road users, TxDOT’s response is lackluster and lethargic. Pedestrian safety on this highway is not treated seriously, instead opting for half-baked solutions that ask drivers to just drive slower and more cautiously on one of the busiest highways in the city. Additionally, this situation begs the question of whether this was ever a driver problem to begin with. Highways are meant to transport large quantities of people as fast as possible — a design purpose fundamentally at odds with a border crossing full of pedestrians on foot. Asking drivers to “be more careful” doesn’t fix a road built for the wrong job.

El Paso has various conditions that make pedestrian safety tricky

Pedestrian safety in this region has never come easy, given its unique geographic location and confluence of regional and international actors. Firstly, the highway facilitates an immense amount of international travel on a regular basis, connecting two different international ports of entry, the Bridge of the Americas and Zaragoza International Bridge. More than 30,000 vehicles cross the bridges northbound from Mexico daily, according to the El Paso Regional Economic Development Corporation, funneling thousands of cars into just a few highway lanes.

The facilitation of international travel also makes road planning in this region a headache, often requiring coordination with multiple entities, all at once. For example, El Paso transit organizations like El Paso Metropolitan Planning Organization (EPMPO) and Camino Real Regional Mobility Authority (CRRMA) work together with U.S Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on migration and border safety, TxDOT on state highway changes, and Texas Department of Public Safety’s (DPS) Highway Patrol on traffic safety.

Finally, the poor road design seen on this highway is consistent with El Paso’s other most dangerous roads. With at least four to six lanes spanning the 70+ mile loop, high 50 to 60 miles per hour speed limits in high pedestrian traffic zones, and a sheer lack of safe pedestrian crossings, it is clear that speed is prioritized over safety.

What can we do?

Give local professionals the freedom to fix local problems. It’s clear that when we give money to TxDOT, pedestrian safety isn’t prioritized. In 2025, $146 billion was spent on never-ending highway congestion, and $345 million was spent on pedestrian and bike safety. And even when TxDOT decides to address pedestrian safety in localities, it’s often far too late. For example, Dallas’ stretch of Loop 12 has gone without signal installations, roadway lighting, and humane speed limits for decades. Just from 2019-2024 alone, there were 479 serious injury crashes and 105 deadly crashes. It wasn’t until 2025 that TxDOT pledged nearly $10M in safety improvements. Thus, localities need more direct funding from state DOTs on local roads, and need to be rigorously involved in state-level roadway planning.

Money given to localities creates more timely and effective results. With the help of the American Heart Association, the National Complete Streets Coalition, and additional support from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) grant, El Paso formed a Complete Street Coalition and a comprehensive street design plan to address pedestrian safety. Multiple quick-build projects and road design changes were made, dropping pedestrian deaths by more than 20 percent. Adopting programming that directly funds localities and Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPO) would enable visionary local leadership to take charge and fix the pedestrian safety crisis.

At the state agency level, the disconnect between local needs and state planning and investment is remarkably concerning. Federal law requires state DOT long-range transportation plans (LRTPs) to be in cooperation with regional MPOs. However, the extent to which state DOTs actually collaborate is little to none. Only in two states, Colorado and Utah, do local MPOs fully incorporate priorities into state-level LRTPs. Thus, state DOTs must create open collaboration models with local MPOs, governments, and coalitions. Local and regional partners should gather community input, while state DOTs should focus on implementation and project delivery. Together, localities and states can work in a coordinated manner to address actual issues and advance meaningful priorities.

The need for change is urgent and the stakes are high. “Yes, it’s dangerous. But what else can one do?” asked a man caught on video, running across the Border Highway with a small girl on his shoulders. Without timely and concerted solutions to address pedestrian safety on our highways, countless pedestrians will continue to be put in deadly situations. So the question is simple: locals have the knowledge and solutions to these problems, can state DOTs answer the call?