Fort Worth streetcar closer to reality

$2 million in initial funding

Steve Hawley, Jan 20, 10.

The City of Fort Worth has obtained initial funding to begin work on a downtown streetcar line, according to the Fort Worth Business Press.

The project recently received $2 million in funding - $1.6 million from the Regional Transportation Council and $200,000 each from the City of Fort Worth and the Fort Worth Transportation Authority. The city’s Modern Streetcar Task Force also recommended a contract to City Council, although some City Council members still do not agree on the exact route a streetcar line should take.

Fort Worth is also seeking up to $25 million in stimulus funds to help pay for the project. Overall, the city hopes to build a 20-mile streetcar network at a cost of roughly $250 million, or $12.5 million per mile.

This summer, the city created a pilot project nicknamed “Molly the Trolley,” a downtown trolley-like bus route. Mayor Mike Moncrief told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, “We have to start sometime in this [streetcar] project; obviously the downtown loop is the core. Putting Molly on tracks seems to be the next step.”

The Business Press article notes:

The next steps in the streetcar process, said David Gaspers, a senior planner in the city’s planning and development department, will be to get approval from the City Council on the contract with HDR Inc., work through agreements with TxDOT to get funding in place, and then to move forward with decisions on where initial streetcar routes will be constructed.

(Photo credit: cacophony)