The merchants who already were upset about the work being done at the city’s international bridges are fairly apoplectic about a proposal to raise bridge fees. And the upcoming move to shift pedestrians from the current El Paso Street entrance to temporary inspection that will empty to Oregon isn’t helping the mood.
“If it proceeds as planned, it will release more than 20,000 people a day onto a residential neighborhood totally unprepared to receive anywhere near that much pedestrian traffic, in a place they really do not want to go and far from their normal traffic path up South El Paso Street,” said Tanny Berg, a Downtown property owner who runs the Shalom Group. “Instead of saying how can we advocate for the Mexican … our answer is let’s raise the tolls.”
The issue of increasing tolls came up at Tuesday’s City Council meeting, where it was proposed by new city Rep. Rachel Quintana. Representatives agreed not to address the proposal, which also is contained in the city budget. The budget proposal is to increase tolls from 35 cents to 50 cents for pedestrians, from $1.65 to $2.25 for vehicles, and to leave the current commercial rate of $3 per axle intact. [see page 44 of budget]
It also will come up at a meeting of the Bridge Commission Tuesday at City Hall. On the agenda is discussion of the bridge fees – which Berg said never came before the Commission for consideration -- and the bridge project. [agenda]
City Rep. Beto O’Rourke, who represents Downtown, said he did not favor raising tolls for pedestrians.
“I said in the council meeting Tuesday I would not support a fee increase for pedestrians or cyclists unless the city reinvests that back into the bridges, in other words wouldn’t support just to feed the general fund,” O’Rourke said. “What I am open to that I haven’t fully explored is perhaps raising the fees for automobiles as a means of basically following a trend of congestion pricing that cities across the world are looking at.”
He also said that the city is working with the parties involved – including the merchants and the federal government – to “improve the corridor on Oregon street, to make it pleasant and safe, make sure there’s lighting, make sure there’s police protection.”
The shift will take place in September, when the number of pedestrian lanes will increase from five to 12. The number of pedestrians has increased since the project began, while the number of autos crossing has decreased. [>project description, crossing statistics]
“Frankly, Tanny is just trying to protect the business owners on El Paso Street who are used to this influx of Mexican shoppers every day,” O’Rourke said. “But his case the city or government doesn’t care about these Mexican shoppers is disingenuous … He wants to force people who come across the bridge to walk through Downtown to the Plaza. When people were making the case for a bus or trolley to take people from the foot of the bridge, I want it to be convenient. These are our customers. His response was, I want them to walk, and we got into a big argument, ‘I said look these people are carrying luggage and bags and a lot of them are elderly.’
“I totally understand his economic argument but that’s all it is. There’s not a humanitarian argument there and I know because when I presented humanitarian options he dismissed them. The primary driver is economics and protecting their interest Downtown, which I don’t begrudge them but I want them to be honest about it,” O’Rourke said.
Berg said he supports the current shuttle system: “Beto is correct that I have in the past and continue to oppose the shuttling of pedestrians in a direct not-stop trip directly to the Plaza away from their customary shopping routes up South El Paso Street, although I was instrumental in procuring the trolleys Sun Metro uses now to pick up pedestrians at the Southern base of South El Paso Street and making frequent stops, takes them to the Plaza if that is where they want to go.”
Mike Breitinger, director of the Downtown Management District, did not respond to requests for an interview. Previously, he told City Council he did not favor raising bridge fees; he was quoted in the El Paso Times as saying that moving the pedestrian flow to Oregon would be a major interruption to retail.
Berg said the issue is not just economic. He said that basic amenities are lacking.
“What happens if you’re an 88-year old lady crossing the bridge? There’s not even a bench to sit down on,” he said. “I need the city to get up and say you can’t treat us like that. The government is totally indifferent to the community unless the community stands up and says ‘we will not allow you to treat us this way.’ I’ve asked the mayor for four weeks in a row now to pass a resolution telling GSA to do it better.”
Victor Aguirre, another member of the Bridge Commission, said in an email message that
“I had to go across to Juarez the last couple of weekends and one of the times at around 6 am I got to the end of the line right on top of the bridge of the Americas, right next to the two flags that mark the jurisdiction of each country. It took 1 and 1/2 Hours for me to get across. This is outrageous! Also, I have never seen the bridges as dirty and plain out NASTY!”
The federal project is overseen by the General Services Administration, and involves the Department of Homeland Security because of the inspection issues involved at the international border.
“The construction will be inconvenient and I understand the frustration of business owners in the area,” said Congressman Silvestre Reyes. “I encourage customers to continue visiting the affected businesses during the construction period. The safety of our railroad crossings, though, is extremely important, and the long-term public safety benefits of this construction will serve our entire community.”
