Road Report - I-10/20 El Paso to Midland, TX

[Scubadude62-WO]

I-10 eastbound was wonderful to drive on. Smooth, maybe a bit bumpy in patches, but overall a pleasure to drive on.

As friends warned us, there's not a whole lot for scenery. There's one set of mountains that take you up to about 4800 feet, but nothing very steep, since we started at 3400 feet. Once in the Permian basin area, it was oil, everywhere. Very flat land with oil pumps as far as you can see. We passed by several very long (150+ cars) trains during the day.

I-20, not so much. Early going was quite nice, looked like it had been recently re-paved. In a couple of places, it was down to a single lane, but traffic was light and we never had to slow down.

Until we got near Odessa. Then, it turned into one of the worst roads we've driven on so far on this trip. Not tooth-rattling, but not a very comfortable ride.

Once in Odessa, the entire main line was closed off, and all I-20 traffic (still at 2 lanes), routed onto the frontage road. Speed limit was as low as 55 in places.

 

[Mr Lars]

The I-20 corridor from west of Odessa, to east of Midland, is undergoing a multi-year rebuilding & expansion. Many State highway crossover bridges are being removed and I-20 will bridge over those highways. Hopefully the State, and Feds will keep the 55mph after completion in a couple years, between Stanton(east of Midland), and Penwell Hill(west of Odessa).

 

[Scubadude62-WO]

The I-20 corridor from west of Odessa, to east of Midland, is undergoing a multi-year rebuilding & expansion. Many State highway crossover bridges are being removed and I-20 will bridge over those highways. Hopefully the State, and Feds will keep the 55mph after completion in a couple years, between Stanton(east of Midland), and Penwell Hill(west of Odessa).

It wasn't all that bad. A little bumpy, but nothing really worth noting. A pretty standard long-term construction area.