Monday, January 28, 2013
Photos: Loyola Streetcar grand opening ceremony and inaugural ride
Posted by Charles Maldonado @ChMaldonado on Mon, Jan 28, 2013 at 2:37 PM
The new Loyola Avenue-Union Passenger Terminal Streetcar Line officially opened today, with a grand opening ceremony followed by an inaugural ride for Mayor Mitch Landrieu, Federal Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and other dignitaries in attendance.
Landrieu hailed the new line — 0.8-miles long, or 1.6 miles of track through the Central Business District — as a major economic win for the city.
"This streetcar line is not just a red box on a rail going to nowhere," he said, calling it a "pathway to prosperity."
The streetcar line was 85 percent financed by a $45 million TIGER grant issued in 2010. (The line, originally scheduled to open last year, ended up costing more than $52 million.) The grant was part of President Obama's American Recovery and Investment Act of 2009, also known as the economic stimulus bill.
In spite of ongoing debate about the effectiveness of the stimulus, LaHood said, it "worked when it comes to transportation."
The Loyola line, he said, "will create hundreds of jobs and will create the kind of economic opportunity and activity that is long overdue in New Orleans."
(After the jump, a short video of the inaugural ride, led by the St. Augustine High School marching band)
Speaking of...
-
Food truck furor
Stacy Head on the Mayor's Veto
- May 13, 2013
-
Landrieu's state of the city address focused on 2018
The mayor's eye is clearly on a second term, and today's speech seemed to be the pilings for a second-term platform.
- May 7, 2013
-
Monitor delay
NOPD fed consent decision postponed
- May 6, 2013
- More »
Readers also liked…
-
Snowing balls in NYC, second summer in a row
Neesa Peterson's Imperial Woodpecker Sno-Balls serves authentic New Orleans snoballs and snacks in New York's West Village.
- Aug 18, 2012
-
Thanks, Zapp's
- Jun 2, 2010
Comments (1)
Showing 1-1 of 1
Recent Comments
-
Re: Benefit for Mother's Day shooting victims May 23 at Tip’s
HumidCity will do everything it can to assist. If there is something we can do…
- on May 17, 2013
-
Re: Sunday: Divine Ladies Second Line
Wow, great!
Throw another party in the city with the highest poverty rate in…- on May 17, 2013
-
Re: Big Tymers will release a new album... without Mannie Fresh
Can you say it's The Beatles without John?
Or can it be Miami Vice…- on May 16, 2013
-
Re: Encore screenings of Timecode:nola's Where Y'at (hello) presented at Chalmette Movies
an excellent movie! my review - http://www.neauxreelidea.com/2013/04/revie…
- on May 15, 2013
-
Re: Review: The Great Gatsby
The road to Hell is paved in unbought stuffed dogs.
- on May 15, 2013
-
Re: The Mother's Day shootings: What constitutes an act of terror?
Long how many more billions we spend to prevent the FBI's definition of terrorism versus…
-
on May 15, 2013
- More »
