Current and historic US highway endpoints in El Paso, Texas

In the beginning (1926), El Paso was served by only two US routes - one of which ceased to exist in the 1930's, and the other hasn't been seen in these parts since 1991. US 80 came in from the east on Alameda Avenue, which angles southwest and heads downtown as Texas Avenue. At Mesa Street, US 80 took a turn to the northwest and headed out of town. In other words, US 80 followed the routing of today's TX hwy. 20. US 366 was a diagonal route, originating in Amarillo and passing through the New Mexico towns of Clovis, Roswell, and Alamogordo, before arriving back in Texas. US 366 came into El Paso on Dyer Street, and then angled off to Pershing Drive, which gradually curves until it runs east-west. At Piedras Street, US 366 turned south, and it ended at its junction with US 80 (Alameda):

Photo A: Elbert, Mar. 2007

Below we're heading east on Alameda. US 366 began to the left on Piedras:

Photo B: Elbert, Mar. 2007

If you turn that way, Piedras immediately rises over some railyards...

Photo C: Nelson, Oct. 2006

...but I doubt that overpass existed when US 366 began here. That designation was eliminated in 1931, replaced by a rerouted US 70 (which would've ended at the same intersection). The following year, El Paso welcomed the arrival of another US route: highway 62 was extended west from Carlsbad NM. It came into town on Montana Avenue, which junctioned with US 70 at Piedras:

Photo D: Elbert, Mar. 2007

That's looking due west on Montana - the southernmost Franklin Mountains are visible in the background. On the other side of Piedras, Montana becomes a diagonal heading downtown. It's possible that US 62 ended here...but it seems more likely that it would've been co-signed south (left) on Piedras with US 70, down to a common endpoint at US 80 (Alameda; see photos A-C).

By 1935, US 70 had been rerouted again, and so the north-south highway coming into El Paso received its third number in less than a decade: US 54. Most likely it ended where its predecessors had ended (Piedras at Alameda; photos A-C), and US 62 continued to end either at its junction with US 54 (Piedras; photo D) or with US 80 (Alameda; photos A-C).

Up until at least 1940, there was no signed highway serving the original Mexico port-of-entry downtown. But at some point (I can only narrow this down to between 1940 and 1959) US 54 was extended south of Alameda on Piedras, then west on Paisano Drive, then south on Santa Fe Street to a new endpoint at the international boundary. Today traffic uses El Paso Street (not Santa Fe), but the bridge is the same one that originally aligned with Santa Fe. Below we're looking south on El Paso St:

Photo E: Elbert, Mar. 2007

Today that bridge is for northbound traffic only, but originally it appears to have served both directions. I think it was about 1960 when its counterpart (Stanton Street) began to be used for southbound traffic. That border crossing is shown below:

Photo F: Elbert, Mar. 2007

That may have been another endpoint of US 54, and according to maps, it's now the endpoint of both US 62 and US 85 (more on that below).

In 1944, US 180 was commissioned. Its west end was in El Paso, which is a bit strange, since its routing was concurrent with the already-existing US 62 eastward all the way to Hobbs NM - a distance of about 230 miles! In El Paso, US 62/180 came in on Montana and junctioned with US 54 at Piedras, but didn't end there. Rather, the two routes continued southwest on Montana to Mesa, where they ended at US 80:

Photo G: Elbert, Mar. 2007

That's looking southwest on Montana at Mesa, so that's where US 62/180 ended. But note that by this time, Montana was one-way westbound; Yandell Drive was its eastbound counterpart. Below we're looking northwest on Mesa, or westbound on old US 80:

Photo H: Elbert, Mar. 2007

Westbound US 62/180 ended one block ahead, but eastbound began to the right on Yandell. It carried US 62/180 from Mesa to Copia Street, where drivers were directed north to join westbound traffic on Montana.

It wasn't until 1946 that US 85 was extended south from Las Cruces to El Paso. It came into town on Mesa, co-signed with US 80. But it didn't go all the way to the international boundary, as it does today (in fact, based on the maps I've seen, US 54 was the only US route serving the border crossing until 1974). My best guess is that US 85 ended at the same junction where US 62/180 began: on Mesa at Montana/Yandell (photos G-H). In 1961, US 180 was extended westward out of El Paso, but US 62 continued to end at Mesa.

According to official TX DoT route designation files, US 54, US 62, and US 85 were all "relocated" in 1974. That basically means their routings were changed, and here's how I interpret that: US 54 was redirected to the 2nd border crossing (known variously as Cordova, Bridge of the Americas, BOTA, and/or "the free bridge". You can view a photo from there on my main US 54 page). US 62 was rerouted along Paisano, then Stanton and/or Santa Fe, to a new endpoint at the original border crossing downtown (the former endpoint of US 54). US 85 was also rerouted onto Paisano, and it joined US 62 to end at the downtown port-of-entry (in other words, this is when US 62 and US 85 were changed to their present routings; photos E-F). Today, traffic from Mexico comes in at the El Paso St. crossing, but doesn't encounter any highway signage for about eight blocks - almost to Paisano:

Photo I: Elbert, Mar. 2007

Up against the orange building at far left (which is on the far corner of Paisano), there's a similar assembly, shown close-up below:

Photo J: Elbert, Mar. 2007

If you were to turn right there (east on Paisano) and go three blocks, you'd come back to Stanton. There, I'd expect a US 85 sign to be pointing south, but instead this is what you see:

Photo K: Elbert, Mar. 2007

No US 85, but there's a Texas state highway sign, used to refer to Mexico highway 45. Based on the signage in this area, you'd get the impression that neither US 62 nor US 85 actually make it to the border. Instead, it seems both routes begin on Paisano, heading opposite directions from El Paso St. But my understanding is that, officially, both routes still actually begin and end at the border.

That leaves only one more change in terms of endpoints, and I don't know when this happened: but at some point, US 54 was changed slightly, such that it no longer goes all the way to the BOTA crossing, but rather it ends nearby at its interchange with TX 375 (the Border Highway). Photos from that terminus are on my main US 54 page.

You can use the links in the chart at the top of this page to read more about the US highways that end (or ended) in El Paso. Or click here for an interactive map showing current and historic endpoints in El Paso.