About the Loop Trolley
In 1997, a community planning group engaged in a collaborative process with the City of St. Louis, University City, and Metro to explore ways of cultivating development around the Delmar MetroLink Station, an area of pedestrian concern. Joe Edwards, owner of Blueberry Hill and staunch promoter of The Loop revitalization, suggested that the streetcar system that once built the area and gave The Loop its name could help attract the development needed to extend the Delmar Streetscape and link the Delmar Station to The Loop.
Metro helped finance a $200,000 feasibility study that estimated the cost of a new streetcar system in 2000. The study, completed in December 2000, suggested that an electric trolley line was indeed feasible and even more efficient and effective than a system of buses disguised to look like trolleys. While a fixed track system would cost more to build, the operating costs of a fixed track versus a rubber tire system were almost identical. The study showed that the fixed track system offered long-term viability, with a 70% higher ridership than the rubber tire system.
Citizens for Modern Transit (CMT) along with Joe Edwards and others created the non-profit Loop Trolley Company (LTC). CMT secured a grant from the East-West Gateway Council of Governments and the Missouri Department of Transportation to purchase and renovate two historic vehicles for the new line. The renovation is complete and the cars are currently on display in front of the Missouri History Museum and Commerce Bank in The Loop. A preliminary engineering study wrapped up in January 2010, and the Loop Trolley Company is currently seeking federal funding for the project.
Loop Trolley Board of Directors
Joe Adams, Mayor of University City
Robert Archibald, president of the Missouri Historical Society
Joe Edwards, board president and business owner: Blueberry Hill, Pin-Up Bowl, and the Pageant Building
Don Musick, president of Musick Construction Co.
J. Kim Tucci, co-owner of the Pasta House Company and board member of the St. Louis Convention and Visitors Commission
Ben Uchitelle, past mayor of Clayton
Timeline
2000 Feasibility Study by Metro
2002 CMT established Loop Trolley Company (LTC)
2005 LTC acquired and restored two vintage trolleys
2008 St. Louis City redesign of Delmar Bridge
2008 Transportation Development District (TDD) established
Expected to generate $300-$400K per year
Funds to be used for capital costs of project
2008 Planning and preliminary engineering study begins
2009 New "Trolley Ready" Delmar Bridge
over MetroLink to open
2009 Preliminary Engineering projected to be completed
in December
2010 Preliminary Engineering completed
2010 Currently, pursuing federal funding for the
project
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