With the clock ticking toward 2015, Mayor Kasim Reed repeated his pledge this week that the Atlanta Streetcar system will launch by year’s end.
“It will be open by midnight, Dec. 31,” Reed said in an interview Thursday. “We want to make sure we fully comply with safety components. That I won’t rush.”
With just two weeks left to achieve that goal, city leaders haven’t yet announced a formal opening date for the $98 million, four-car system.
Melissa Mullinax, a Reed adviser, said the Streetcar is in final stages of receiving needed approvals from state and federal transportation authorities.
Reed set the December 31 deadline earlier this year after the system experienced several delays. The project, which broke ground in 2012, was originally planned to open in April or May 2013.
In November, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution exclusively reported that the Federal Transit Administration warned the city of ongoing safety concerns — such as inadequate signage and pavement markings — and delayed the day Reed hoped that the streetcar could begin taking passengers. City officials said those issues have largely been resolved.
Reed said Thursday that the project has already spurred hundreds of millions in related economic development around its 2.7-mile loop from Centennial Olympic Park to the King Center.
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