El Paso residents rally to protect a Rio Grande wetland from possible highway project [Video]

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EL PASO — Dozens of people crammed into a conference room on the eastern edge of El Paso on a recent Thursday evening. Some brought signs, some wore t-shirts, others diligently wrote their feedback on notecards. But the message was resounding: Don’t build a highway near our wetland.

Conservation advocates in El Paso say the Texas Department of Transportation should steer clear of the Rio Bosque Wetlands Park as it considers potential highway expansion in southeast El Paso County. TxDOT is in the early planning phase to improve mobility in the Mission Valley. A corridor studyidentified three possible routes to extend a highway through the area. All three routes run alongside …