Wyler Aerial Tramway Construction Underway, Short on Funds
Texas Parks and Wildlife officials gave an update Tuesday on the Wyler Aerial Tramway, which has been out of commission since 2018 when engineers determined the tramway was too old to carry passengers safely. The new tramway will be built at Franklin Mountains State Park near the old location at 1700 McKinley.
Raymond Telles, executive director of the Camino Real Regional Mobility Authority, expects the tramway to be completed in two years. Construction of the upper deck will follow its completion, with the tramway used to transport supplies up the mountainside.
El Paso legislators have secured $27 million in state funding for the project, still short of the initial price tag of $30 million. Telles said that price tag is based on a years-old feasibility study and the amount would be higher now as construction costs rise.
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation has launched a philanthropy campaign to fund the rest of the project with private donations.
The project is in Phase 1 of construction, which includes turning the road into a loop, expanding the parking lot and adding hiking trails. Telles expects Phase 1 to be completed by early fall 2026. Phase 2 involves construction of a new, bigger visitor center at the base of the tramway and the overlook station at the top.
The iconic aerial tramway is named after KTSM radio founder Karl Wyler, who had the tramway built in 1959 to haul telecommunications equipment and workers up to the mountain summit. The tramway opened to the public from 1960 to 1986, then later again under Texas Parks and Wildlife operations, giving El Pasoans the chance to ride on gondolas about 940 feet up for a bird’s eye view of El Paso, Ciudad Juárez and Southern New Mexico, as well as the rugged mountainscape.
“Wyler has always been more than a ride,” said state Rep. Vincent Perez, whose district encompasses the tramway. “It’s where families come to change their point of view. We’re a few minutes off the ground. Suddenly home feels larger, closer and more connected. From atop Ranger Peak, you don’t see borders, you see a single community.”
Donate Your Halloween Pumpkins to Compost
Dirt y Girls Compost in East El Paso is asking people to donate their fall pumpkins and jack-o-lanterns instead of throwing them away. The group is accepting pumpkin dropoffs in its bins, accessible yearlong next to the chainlink fence at 8248 Troy Ave. in the Lower Valley. Paint on the pumpkins is acceptable, but you’re asked to remove any plastic, metal and glass accessories.
Dirt y Girls is a small, women-run composting program serving Lower Valley residents.
“Pumpkins that are thrown away take up valuable space in landfills & are such a waste when they can be composted into rich soil instead,” reads an Instagram post from Sun City Pickers, a volunteer-run nonprofit that organizes weekly litter pickups in El Paso.
Information: Instagram and Facebook
El Paso County’s Vitals and Recording Van Brings Services to Residents
The El Paso County Clerk’s Office this week inaugurated its Vitals and Recording Van, a mobile unit that will bring its services to sites throughout the county weekly Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Residents can obtain copies of birth, marriage and death certificates at the mobile unit, as well as other records such as business registrations, property record filings and DD-214s, Department of Defense certificates of release or discharge from active duty.
The van has two service windows where residents can speak to clerk office staff and request needed documents. Transactions can be processed with cash, credit/debit card, money order, cashier’s check or business check.
The mobile unit will be scheduled for stops at Texas Department of Public Safety offices, the Rescue Mission of El Paso, El Paso Public Library branches, as well as in Horizon, San Elizario Montana Vista,Tornillo, Fabens, Clint and more.
For a schedule of site stops, visit epcounty.com/clerk or call 915-273-3532.
Pellicano Drive Construction Moves Forward
Drivers who have been navigating the traffic-jammed Pellicano Drive east of Loop 375 will soon see more significant road construction as the new contractor prepares the site.
Hawk Construction will complete work the original contractor did not finish, and has started cleaning the site and working on one of two drainage ponds ahead of road construction that will begin in December.
“We started in September, so, in September 2026, Phase 1 will be complete. The one-year timeline has begun,” Camino Real Regional Mobility Authority Executive Director Raymond Telles told the El Paso County Commissioners Court on Monday.
Read more about why a new contractor was needed and what they will do
Telles said Hawk Construction also set up an on-site office while the work is being completed.
The designs for the second phase of the project are also being developed to determine the total cost of the project as originally planned, he said.
Hawk Construction will complete the westbound portion of the road from Aircoupe Way to Joe Battle Boulevard, which includes construction of a new transition to the existing roadway at Aircoupe and two drainage ponds. Traffic is currently restricted to the eastbound lanes.
The new contractor was needed to complete work that J.A.R. Concrete did not finish after defaulting on the project and subsequently filing for bankruptcy in 2023. Legal proceedings have been an ongoing issue in the delay of the completion of the improvements, but agreements between the CRRMA and the surety United States Fire Insurance Company – the bond company secured by J.A.R. to ensure that the work would be completed if it defaulted on the project have enabled work to resume on the roadway.
Students Celebrate Arbor Day with Tree Planting at Capistrano Park
About 150 Capistrano Elementary School students will participate in a tree planting event at their Lower Valley neighborhood park in celebration of Texas Arbor Day at 9 a.m. Friday, Nov. 7.
The celebration will feature guest speakers, an educational presentation on the importance of trees and pollination, and the planting of several new trees at Capistrano Park, 8700 Padilla Drive. Students will also unveil their posters celebrating trees and nature at the event.
Each student will also receive a seedling to take home and plant, the city said in a news release.
Arbor Day in El Paso is observed on Texas Arbor Day, the first Friday in November, which aligns with the best planting season across the state according to the Texas A&M Forest Service.
“Events like these not only beautify our parks but also cultivate a lifelong appreciation for nature, sustainability, and community involvement,” Parks and Recreation Director Pablo Caballero said in a statement.
The event is being hosted by the city’s Parks and Recreation Department, the West Texas Urban Forestry Council and Texas AgriLife Extension of El Paso. The city encourages residents and neighborhoods to join the celebration by planting trees and spending time outdoors.
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