State of Texas May Come Up With 15 Million Dollars To Redo Wyler Tramway

The Wyler Aerial Tramway closed down unexpectedly in September of last year and at the time, the State of Texas, which owns the tram, said they had no money to repair or replace the Wyler Aerial Tramway. Earlier this year, the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department and Texas Senator José Rodriguez said a feasibility study would happen in February to look into how much it will cost to replace the tramway. The study was supposed to take up to a year to complete. A new aerial tramway was reported to potentially cost as much as $10 million, but the actual cost would not be known until the study was completed. Earlier this year, the El Paso Community Foundation said they were working on finalizing an agreement with TPWD to help raise money.

Fast forward to this week when it was announced that the Texas House of Representatives approved two key appropriations bills that would provide $15 million to fix the Wyler Aerial Tramway. The bill will now go to the Senate for consideration.

What isn't known is if part of the $15 million would be used for a feasibility study or if the feasibility study has even been started. It's also not known if the tram would be completely rebuilt because at the time it closed, officials said it could not be repaired because the technology was so old and replacement parts were not available.