Menge Avenue Overpass closing causing concerns for local business

Yesterday, construction workers closed the Menge Avenue overpass running across I-10 to get ready to demolish it and put up a wider overpass for the long-awaited Buc-ee’s Travel Center.

The addition is set to bring an added boost in revenue to the area when complete, but for the time being, local business owners are on edge about how this could affect their businesses in the short-term.

It raises the question of will it deter some customers away from business on either side of the bridge.

Anthony Monjaraz of El Patron Mexican Restaurant says he’s optimistic about the expected travel center, but for now is nervous about how his business may fare in the upcoming months. “It’s difficult for people, you know, south of Menge to get all the way over here because they gotta go all the way around, including myself. I gotta go all the way around just to get home. It’s exactly eight minutes. We’ve seen a decline in clients.”

The bridge is expected to be closed for a little over a year.