The next meeting of the Colorado Springs Streetcar Feasibility Study will be tonight, March 16.

The study, a private-sector effort, is evaluating the economic feasibility and cost of building a modern electric streetcar system in and near downtown Colorado Springs. The study also is gauging community interest.

Tonight’s meeting will continue discussions about potential routes, possible funding sources and vehicle preferences for the system. The three primary corridors under consideration are Cascade Avenue, Nevada Avenue and Tejon Street. Due to public input, the study team also is examining Weber Street and Wahsatch Avenue.

The study is being conducted by Mountain Metropolitan Transit, the city’s bus service, and is funded by federal planning grants, Colorado College, the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, the Downtown Development Authority, the Business Improvement District, the Colorado Springs Urban Renewal Authority, the Old North End Neighborhood Association and Bircham’s.

Colorado Springs had streetcars serving downtown, the west-side neighborhood and Manitou Springs from 1887 to 1932. Since then, reviving the city’s streetcar system has run into snags, ranging from a lack of money to problems with moving utility lines buried under streets.

The feasibility study is expected to be completed in late spring.

Streetcar Feasibility Study meeting:

5:30-7 p.m. Tuesday March 16

First United Methodist Church, 420 N. Nevada Ave.

For information: www.CSstreetcar.com or 533-7859

Copyright 2009 J. David Thorpe. Rendering depicts vision of streetcar service on Tejon Street in downtown Colorado Springs. Photo by