The Delmar Loop Trolley is making steady progress toward a goal of opening sometime in 2012.
The project would span more than 2 miles and connect Forest Park to the Delmar Loop.
Joe Edwards, the man behind almost every project on the Delmar Loop, says the trolley should clear its environmental impact study next month.
After that he expects progress to come fairly quickly.
"The hope is that by the end of this year it'll be under construction, that's the goal and then hopefully it will then be complete by September of 2012,” Edwards said, “That's a very aggressive timetable, but we're sticking with it."
Edwards says the project still needs another $5 million to $8 million to be fully funded.
Last year the Federal Transit Administration contributed $25 million as part of a competitive grant process awarded to only five cities.
Edwards says the trolley will not only connect Forest Park with the Delmar Loop but also future pedestrian and bike trails like the St. Vincent Greenway.
"And so on that section of DeBaliviere, you're going to have one of those rare things where you'll have every form of transportation…pedestrian, bicycle, trolley, bus and automobile, everything but jet planes basically," Edwards said.
The Loop Trolley Company is currently in the process of hiring a director to manage the system.
