Corpus Christi — Trolley Route OK'd

Rail Transit Online, September 2004

The Regional Transportation Authority on Aug. 4 approved a final route for the proposed downtown streetcar that apparently pleases everybody.  The tracks would form a loop through downtown, serving City Hall and most RTA bus routes, then head north on Water Street past Interstate 37 before jogging east to Shoreline Boulevard.  They would then turn north along the sea wall to the convention center, turning west to terminate at a proposed new sports stadium.  The Water Street alignment meets the objections of some residents and city council members who didn’t want overhead wires placed on Shoreline Boulevard south of I-37 because they believe it would cause visual clutter.  The route selection will become part of an environmental assessment that should be completed in October.  After city approval, it will be submitted to the Federal Transit Administration with a request for permission to start preliminary engineering.  The estimated capital cost is about $30 million, and the council has already decided not to contribute any city money.  However, the RTA will be permitted to use city-funded road improvements as the local share.  The federal government will be asked to provide up to 80 percent of the financing.  The approximately two-mile (3.2 km) line, which will use either new or refurbished heritage trolleys, will act as a downtown circulator and tourist attraction.