The movement to preserve El Pasos streetcars
Raul Apodaca was featured this week on Borderzine talking about the nostalgia when he bought a trolley in the 1980s and has been longing for…
Raul Apodaca, owner of a streetcar located at S Mesa St and E 3rd Ave in downtown El Paso, says he bought it in from the City in 1996. (Dashlee Ford/Borderzine.com)
Raul Apodaca was featured this week on Borderzine talking about the nostalgia when he bought a trolley in the 1980s and has been longing for the moment he would be able to ride again.
SEE ALSO: Exhibit brings to life the memories of El Pasos first neighborhoods
Artist and activist Peter Svarzbein is trying to make Raul’s dream a reality. Svarzbein is the Program Coordinator for “El Paso Transnational Trolley Project,” a movement aiming to bring back trolleys to the Sun City.
“This has been a 40-year-plus odyssey to see streetcar service return on El Paso streets,” said Svarzbein to KFOX.
On thursday, the Texas Transportation Commission finally decided to fund the $97 million for the trolley project City Council approved in 2012.
City officials hope to begin construction of the 5.2-mile El Paso Trolley in August, according to local media.
These streetcars were a part of life and work in El Paso until the early 1970s.
Supporters of “El Paso Transnational Trolley Project.” (Facebook)
“El Paso Transnational Trolley Project,” described on their website why streetcars matters to the community.
“El Paso had has a long history of electric streetcar use. For almost 100 years (1902-1974), a streetcar was a vital connection between El Paso and Ciudad Juarez.”
“At one point, the El Paso Streetcar had over 63 miles of track covering nearly every facet of the El Paso. There were as many as 500 trips a day between El Paso and Juarez. In many ways, it defined and shaped the historic neighborhoods like Segundo Barrio, Manhattan Heights, Sunsets Heights and Kern Place. It was a system that brought our city together with wonderful stories that our parents and grandparents can still vividly recall.”
Returning streetcar service to Downtown has been a dream of many for a long time, but the project had been blocked for years because there was no funding.
Streetcars have been credited to make cities more attractive to tourists and provide an alternative means of transportation for residents, which means that this project could have positive impact in the community.
The trolley would run north from downtown on Stanton Street all the way up to UTEP, where it would loop around the campus and return running south on Oregon Street.
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