A downtown streetcar line would be feasible according
to a preliminary version of an $890,000 Regional Core Circulator Study
conducted by Wilbur Smith Associates and Parsons Brinckerhoff, Inc. for the
Toledo Metropolitan Area Council of Governments (TMACOG). An initial route
would link the Toledo Farmers’ Market, SeaGate Centre and Government Center
with a transportation center at Cherry Street and Buckeye Basin Greenbelt
Parkway. The consultants estimate capital costs at around $35 million,
including the transportation center and its park-and-ride lot. No funding
sources have yet been identified but officials expect to ask for federal
grants should the proposal be approved. Streetcars last ran in Toledo a
half-century ago but David Dysard, TMACOG’s vice president for
transportation, told The Blade that a modern version would fit in
“…with the idea of a downtown renaissance,” adding, “We want to keep some of
the elements of the old that were good, and improve on them. This is a
project we want to actively pursue. This is not about having a pretty
report we can look at on a shelf. This is about actually getting something
done.”
