A road closure in El Paso's Upper Valley aims to improve flood safety and save homeowners on insurance, but may cause temporary headaches for commuters.

Starting Monday, both lanes of the County Club Bridge across the Rio Grande will be closed for construction crews to install flood gates on both ends of the bridge. The construction is scheduled until March 15, but according to the United States International Boundaries and Water Commission, if the construction wraps up early the bridge could re-open sooner.

"We are making structural improvements to the levees so they are stronger and better able to withstand flood waters," said Sally Spener, public affairs officer for USIBWC. "We're also raising the height of the levees so that they can perform better during larger floods."

Spener also said detour signs will direct vehicles about two miles north to Artcraft Bridge via Westside Drive or Doniphan Drive.

The USIBWC is repairing 122 miles of Rio Grande flood control levees between Hatch, N.M. and Fort Hancock, Texas. The projects are supposed to bring the levees into compliance with standards established by the FEMA. Communities protected by FEMA-accredited levees are not required to purchase flood insurance, and Spener said homeowners in the area of the County Club Bridge will not have to spend money on flood insurance after the improvements. 

"When the levees were constructed many decades ago they had a lot of sand in them," Spener said. "We are constructing them now with a material containing clay. In the event that we do have flood conditions on the river there will be adequate protection for communities on either side of the bridge and protection for the bridge."

Local business Ultimate Concrete is working under contract with USIBWC as part of a project to rehabilitate Rio Grande flood control levees between Borderland Bridge in El Paso and the Rio Grande Power Plant in Sunland Park, New Mexico.   The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 funded the project, giving $220 million in Recovery Act appropriations for levee rehabilitation in New Mexico and Texas. The funds have already created or preserved an estimated 2500 jobs, according to Spener.