City growth comes at great cost

El Centro’s Mayor announced the city is about to hit a big milestone that will change a lot of things locally.

“The likelihood of us being over 50,000 residents in 2020 is very likely,” City Mayor Alex Cardenas said.

Cardenas said everyone should expect to see major road work at Imperial Avenue and Interstate-8.

“Imperial Avenue is now going to go south to McCabe Road. That is huge for our city. So, people traveling on interstate-8 will now be able to access Imperial Avenue thru the north and the south,” Cardenas said.

He added the south part is the city’s biggest opportunity for growth.

“That’s where you’re going to see tremendous retail and housing development in the next two to three years,” Cardenas said.

This may draw more travelers to spend their money locally.

“One of our goals is to get those travelers off interstate eight and into our city,” Cardenas said.

He said all this construction is part of the city’s booming growth trend.

“Our city has been a candidate for numerous site selection opportunities in the areas of manufacturing. Those opportunities range anywhere from eight hundred to thirteen hundred jobs,” Cardenas explained.

But all this growth has a cost which will require balancing of budgets in order for public safety to keep up.

“We are working very hard to assess the needs of our public safety, especially in the areas of recruitment and retention of our police officers,” Cardenas concluded.