City to study return of railed streetcars
September 15, 2008
Early conversations about the streetcar program would have the city install three lines in three different phases: the first one would be around Downtown, the second from Downtown to the UTEP area and the third one from the international bridges to the Downtown.
Written by Gustavo Reveles Acosta, The El Paso Times
EL PASO - The streetcars that zoomed through Downtown El Paso until the 1970s could soon make a comeback if a cost analysis study finds that their return is feasible.
The city's Transportation Legislative Review Committee on Friday directed its mobility staff to gather as much information about the railed streetcar program in order to have the City Council decide in two months whether to support its return.
"The council needs to decide whether rail - commuter or light - is a strategic priority for the city," said South-West city Rep. Beto O'Rourke. "The issue of streetcars has been studied to death. We need to decide once and for all if we are going to embrace it."
Since the city discontinued the use of the trolley system in May 1974, their return has been studied three different times. The last one was in 2002, when a streetcar restoration concept plan didn't come to fruition.
Downtown shopper Ramona Acevedo said she remembers ridding the trolleys in the 1960s and would love to see them again.
"It would be a nice thing for the people who are visiting El Paso to see," she said. "I loved the trolleys. They should have never done away with them."
Early conversations about the streetcar program would have the city install three lines in three different phases: the first one would be around Downtown, the second from Downtown to the UTEP area and the third one from the international bridges to the Downtown.
A preliminary study into the cost of restoring old streetcars and installing them in a single track indicates the city would need about $40 million to get the project going.
West-Central city Rep. Susie Byrd said she would like staff to consider all forms of funding if the city does proceed with plans to bring back the streetcars.
"Let's look at other potential sources of funding for this project," she said. "The streetcars are not just a transportation project, but also a tourism project and there could be money available for that, too."
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