Major track installation on the 2.2-mile Loop Trolley, a fixed route electric trolley currently under construction in St. Louis and University City, Mo., has been completed in the Delmar Loop, well ahead of Thanksgiving and the holiday shopping season. Traffic barriers will be removed Nov. 10, 2015.

The construction project, owned by the Loop Valley Transportation Development District, is on-schedule with 50% of the track already installed, according to project manager Mike Minges of Kwame Building Group.

"We know that the construction and traffic controls have been challenging for our local businesses, and we appreciate their patience,” said Joe Edwards, owner of Blueberry Hill and President of the Loop Trolley Transportation Development District. "We look forward to completing the remaining construction in 2016 and adding the trolley as an exciting attraction of the Delmar Loop, one of America’s 10 Great Streets."

Contractors will continue installing light poles and working on the westbound station stops at Leland and Limit, but all major work in the Delmar Loop business district will be completed by Tuesday, November 24. The minor work will impact parking spaces only intermittently.

Construction on the Loop Trolley began in March 2015 with completion slated for late 2016.

The $43 million project will link University City and Forest Park in St. Louis and “promote connectivity, environmentally friendly transportation and pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods,” the Loop Trolley Transportation Development District says. The service will use two GOMACO vintage trolleys purchased in 2013 by the St. Louis Loop Trolley Transportation Development District from Portland, Ore.’s TriMet.

“This fixed-track vintage trolley system will add to the quality of life, increase tourism, and spur economic development. Built in a first-class manner, the Loop Trolley will be an environmentally positive attraction, a prototype for connecting other areas in St. Louis through clean electric transit, and a source of pride for the metropolitan area,” the Loop Trolley Transportation Development District adds.

Railway Age © November 2015