Bridgeport, CT — Streetcars on Main Street

Rail Transit Online, July 2006

Mayor John M. Fabrizi has proposed restoration of streetcar service on Bridgeport’s Main Street as part of an economic development plan to revitalize the aging city.  The line would connect Seaside Park with downtown, the harbor and the adjacent but long-delayed Steel Point mixed use development.  Director of Planning and Economic Development Nancy Hadley said the streetcar would not be viable without Steel Point but gave assurances that disputes which have delayed the scheme for a decade have been resolved and that shovels should be in the ground this fall.  She said tracks could be installed when new streets are built and that developers would finance 80 percent of the segment between Steel Point and downtown.  The other section, along Main Street to the railroad station and Seaside Park, would be partially funded by the state and federal governments.  Hadley said she is working on a federal grant to study the rail project.  Bridgeport’s original streetcar system was abandoned nearly 70 years ago.