Following years of political controversy, the Cincinnati streetcar is scheduled to open for service on Sept. 15, 2016. The news was unveiled in a city memo July 15, which detailed the streetcar project’s future following a construction deal with Messer Construction, Prus Construction and Delta Railroad.
The news comes after Messer revealed it will need nearly $500,000 more to do construction work, which will be covered by the project’s $10 million contingency funds.
The memo detailed other upcoming milestones for the streetcar project: substantial completion of a 3,000-foot test track and maintenance center by March 1, 2015; substantial completion of the Over-the-Rhine loop by June 29, 2015; and substantial completion of all work by March 15, 2016.
City Council recently approved $17.4 million in additional capital funding for the streetcar project, along with various accountability measures that will require the city manager to regularly update council and the public on the project’s progress. The project’s estimated cost now stands at $133 million.
This article appears in Jul 17-23, 2013.
