Herzog Contracting Corp. has
begun laying rail for the TECO Line Streetcar System, and the current schedule
calls for the 2.3-mile, $31.5-million heritage system between the Tampa Marriott
Waterside hotel and Eighth Avenue in historic Ybor City to open in April 2002
(see RTOL, Mar. 2001). Four air-conditioned replica Birney Safety Cars from
Gomaco have been delivered and the remaining four should be in Tampa by August.
Delays in obtaining a site for a maintenance base has forced Hillsborough Area
Regional Transit Authority to temporarily store the cars in an open but
fenced-in area. An extension of the initial route is being designed that would
bring the tracks up Franklin Street to Whiting Street, closer to the center of
downtown.
