Eliot Shapleigh pushes city rail-based transit plan
January 16, 2009
As Mexico and New Mexico border areas move forward with shifting most of their railroad traffic west to Santa Teresa, Texas state Sen. Eliot Shapleigh is urging the city of El Paso to purchase the freed-up tracks and establish a rail-based mass-transit system.
Written by Gustavo Reveles Acosta, The El Paso Times
EL PASO -- As Mexico and New Mexico border areas move forward with shifting most of their railroad traffic west to Santa Teresa, Texas state Sen. Eliot Shapleigh is urging the city of El Paso to purchase the freed-up tracks and establish a rail-based mass-transit system.
But city transit officials said during an informal work session Thursday that the scope of the project goes beyond the city limits, and that a regional entity like the Metropolitan Planning Organization or the Mass Transit Authority should spearhead it.
"The city has a lot on its plate. I want to be aggressive in securing projects like this one, but also cognizant of our (the city's) ability to move projects forward," said Jane Shang, a deputy city manager.
"We have to ask ourselves if this is something the city should be looking at, or should it be a regional project."
The proposed project would use the railroad tracks that Union Pacific and Burlington Northern Santa Fe trains already use in El Paso for trolleylike mass transit.
Shapleigh's vision would create an international transit system, by using the abandoned Ferromex tracks in Juárez and connecting them to El Paso via the black bridge across the Rio Grande near Downtown El Paso.
And it's because of the international aspect of the project that he thinks the city of El Paso -- and not any regional entity -- should be its sponsor.
"Let's not get drowned by the 'Let Mickey Do It' syndrome. It's going to take the city with the mayor and the council to do it," Shapleigh said.
"If you don't have the political power in the front to do this -- the sway of the mayor's office -- I don't think we could do it."
Shapleigh made the presentation Thursday during what was supposed to be a meeting of City Council's Transportation Legislative Review Committee.
Because three of the five members of the committee -- West-Central city Rep. Susie Byrd, Northeast city Rep. Melina Castro and East Side city Rep. Rachel Quintana -- didn't show up and no quorum could be reached, the presentation was made informally and without official discussion to the two members present, Eastridge/Mid-Valley city Rep. Steve Ortega and South-West city Rep. Beto O'Rourke.
"The senator seems to be right. The city stands the best chance of getting this project off the ground," O'Rourke said.
On Thursday, one of the first projects signaling the move of railroad activity away from Downtown El Paso and Juárez and to the Santa Teresa area west of El Paso was completed.
The Verde Santa Teresa Intermodal Park, a 1,200-acre master-planned rail-served industrial park, includes 4,283 feet of new railroad tracks.
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