El Paso City Council to discuss trolley system route, possibly issuing debt for extension
El Paso City Council will make big decisions today on the proposed trolley system. The $90 million state-funded trolley route is currently proposed to run from downtown El Paso, near the Ports of Entry to the UTEP area.
The trolley system, which hasn’t been seen in El Paso since the ’70s, could extend even further to a West Side elementary school.
“The city hasn’t committed to doing this,” City Rep. Steve Ortega said. “They’re going to ask us on Tuesday if we want to do so.”
It’s just a recommendation at this point and city officials said that if they get competitive bids the extension to Mesita Elementary School could be covered with the $90 million coming from the state for the project, though Ortega said it may cost the City an additional $5 million.
The Cityhas already committed topaying for the environmental and engineering assessment, which could cost up to $5 million.
“From my perspective, putting in a local investment of $5 million to get $90 million in return from the state is a pretty good deal,” Ortega said.
But there’s a change in how the City is getting that $5 million for that assessment. Initially they were going to use federal transportation money thatwas secured for the Montana route of the Bus Rapid Transit system,but that required too many regulations, said Jane Shang, deputy city manager.
So now, City officials areconsidering issuing debt, or certificates of obligation.
“All of these different sources of transportation funding — they’re usually in large amounts so we pay them off over an extended period of time,” Ortega said.
Another big decision happening this week is whether to buy replicas or refurbish El Paso’s original streetcars “which are prewar, vintage art deco designed streetcars, which other cities, like New Orleans, San Francisco or other cities, have used or would want to use,” said Peter Svarzvein, an artist and head of the Transnational Trolley Project. “They’re valuable pieces of our history.”
A deputy city manager told ABC-7 they’ve gotten estimates that a replica streetcar would cost about $1.2 million compared to $1.6 million to refurbish the ones the City already has.
The streetcars that ran in El Paso until the 70s are called Presidents’ Conference Committee, or PCCs. They’re a very specific model and the group trying to convince the city to restore them, The Streetcar Preservation Society, said no company makes or sells PCC replicas.
