El Paso Street could see new makeover
El Paso Street gets a lot of foot traffic along with street traffic as well. It’s a major road that transitions people from El Paso to Mexico.
City Council wants to spruce the road up but there’s major step they have to take before starting on the project.
A picture of El Paso street in 1903 shows horse carriages riding through dirt roads.
The street has changed throughout the years but even today it remains a busy portal between El Paso and Juarez.
At Tuesday’s City Council meeting, officials discussed beautifying El Paso street from Paisano Drive to the Paso Del Norte bridge.
The project includes arcs with lighting across the roadway, new trees and public spaces where people can rest and hang out but there’s one problem:
“We just can’t do that under TXDOT rules,” said Matthew McElroy with the international bridges department for the city of El Paso.
The road belongs to the Texas Department of Transportation not the city.
At the meeting, council members approved to go to TXDOT and ask for ownership of the road.
“TXDOT has signed over streets and taken them off the system,” said Jennifer Wright, spokesperson for TXDOT.
Wright said it’s not uncommon but there are steps that need to be taken including reviews at the state level.
“We have to know exactly what we’re handing over and there are some legal documents that are included in that process,” Wright said.
With the city already in agreement with TXDOT to maintain the road, it’s already one step closer to ownership.
“The fact that there’s already a maintenance agreement in place allows the city of El Paso to go ahead with their project,” Wright said.
Anna Domiguez who was walking on El Paso Street said that she’s all for the idea with one exception:
“I feel for the merchants because they suffer when there’s construction, it affects them,” Dominguez said.
Downtown shopper Joseph Cacho also expressed his thoughts with a simple statement.
“When you make things look pretty people tend to come and when they come they spend money,” Cacho said.
TXDOT officials say they don’t know how long the transferring of ownership can take but city officials say they want to try to get the project done by the next holiday season.
