Texas Transit Association

Plans to build a trolley system in downtown Corpus Christi are moving more quickly than expected, and $400,000 has been set aside to draft the environmental effects and logistics of such a project.

Trolley concept rolling forward with an analysis
Passengers would shuttle to and from bayfront
Corpus Christi Caller-Times (Texas) March 15, 2003, Saturday

An environmental analysis and preliminary engineering phase that was expected to begin next fall will likely begin by May or June and take six to eight months, said Fred Haley, director of service development at the Regional Transportation Authority.

“The reason we’re moving so quickly with the environmental assessment is because of all the positive response from our presentations,” Haley said.

The results of a feasibility study were presented several times within the past month and a half to the City Council, the Downtown Management District, the Port of Corpus Christi, the Corpus Christi Metropolitan Planning Organization and at a public hearing on March 6 attended by 11 people, he said.

The next phase will determine possible routes for the tracks - whether they’re on the shoulder of existing roads or in medians and which route the trolley system will take, said Linda Watson, general manager of the Regional Transportation Authority. The environmental analysis includes surveying for easements, reviewing wetlands maps and emergency management maps, and research into relevant archaeological, historical and wildlife factors that might prevent building the trolley system.

The RTA will contribute $80,000 for the environmental analysis and preliminary engineering, and the remaining $320,000 is funding from the Federal Highway Administration that will come to the city through the Metropolitan Planning Organization, said Muhammad Amin Ulkarim, the MPO’s transportation planning director.

Transportation to attractions

The rail system would transport people through tourist attractions downtown, starting at the site of the proposed baseball stadium near the Port of Corpus Christi and ending at City Hall after meandering in the museum and waterfront restaurant district, according to an initial feasibility study. The study was conducted by Parsons, Brinckerhoff, Gignac & Associates, an international company that designed New York City’s first subway line. The architectural firm determined that about 1,650 people would ride the trolleys daily.

A trolley system isn’t guaranteed to be “the salvation of downtown,” said Gordon Landreth, vice president of Cotten, Landreth and Kramer Architects and Associates Inc, but trolley systems have been helpful in other cities.

Landreth serves as chair of the bayfront enhancement committee for the Corpus Christi Downtown Management District. He said he’d like the trolley project to coincide with an idea to slide the Shoreline Boulevard median closer to the Seawall to create a grassy park by the bay.

No conflict expected

Watson said she doesn’t expect a conflict between a possible park and the plans to put in a trolley system. But any system requires federal government money before it proceeds to a final design and construction phase, Watson said.

She spent last week in Washington, D.C., speaking with legislators about the need for a trolley system. Watson said she and U.S. Rep. Solomon Ortiz, D-Corpus Christi, spoke about the project to Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, who is chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Watson also met with staff members for both U.S. senators from Texas to express the public support for a trolley system.

$22 million cost

The rail system would cost between $22 million and $33 million to build with an additional $482,000 in annual operating costs, according to the current design, which the consulting firm said is conceptual.

While rail trolleys would be more expensive than more buses initially, upkeep is less expensive, which makes the long-term cost of railcar trolleys a less expensive option, according to the study by Parsons, Brinckerhoff, Gignac & Associates.

‘Very viable’

Watson said there’s no way of telling whether the trolley system would be funded, considering budget deficits, and an impending war. However, federal money would come through the Metropolitan Planning Organization, and the organization’s director, Ulkarim, said he thinks the project will likely be funded.

“It’s a very viable project,” Ulkarim said.

Proposed trolley routes

The rail system would start at the site of the proposed baseball stadium and end at City Hall after meandering in the museum and waterfront restaurant district.

* Linda Watson and U.S. Rep. Solomon Ortiz, D-Corpus Christi, spoke about the project to Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, who is chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee last week.

* The rail system would cost between $22 million and $33 million to build with an additional $482,000 in annual operating costs, according to the current design.

* The rail system would transport people through tourist attractions downtown.

* While trolleys would be more expensive than more buses initially, upkeep costs less.