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The $19.5 million River Rail project, which will connect the Little Rock and North Little Rock downtowns with a classic streetcar line, is several weeks ahead of its scheduled Sept. 30 completion, said Keith Jones, executive director of the Central Arkansas Transit Authority.

The project will give the downtowns trolley service for the first time since Christmas Eve of 1947.

Even allowing for 30 days of testing, passengers could start riding the trolley in September instead of late October or early November.

“The contractor is really making headway,” Jones said.

The second phase, a quarter-mile linking the line to River Market development projects, including the Clinton Presidential Library and the new headquarters of Heifer International, won’t be finished until sometime in 2005, Jones said.

City officials and many business leaders portray the 2.5-mile River Rail line as a future tourist attraction, a magnet for new businesses and development, another attraction for large conventions and one of several jewels in the restoration of two faded but reviving downtowns.

“It’s another tool we get to use to tell people about Little Rock,” said Barry Travis, director of the Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau. “People will still come to Little Rock just to ride

the trolley. You don’t see trolleys with overhead wires every day anymore.

“The rail and all of it becomes part of a package for a destination.”

In the meantime, downtown workers and residents have become familiar with street closures on both sides of the Arkansas River — most recently the Main Street Bridge, which will be shut down all of March for the installation of rail switches at each end of the bridge.

The public is not, however, familiar with the details of how the rail line will operate. That’s because nothing has been finalized, Jones said. In mid-March CATA will host public meetings for input on operating hours, fares and routes.

Hours

When the trolleys finally start clanking along, they’ll probably hit the rails at about 7:30 a.m. on weekdays to ease morning commutes on both sides of the river, Jones said. All three rail cars will most likely operate on weekdays and weekends.

CATA’s estimated Operating cost includes hours of 7 a.m. - 8 p.m. on weekdays, 10 a.m. - 8 p.m. on Saturdays and 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. on Sundays.

The service needs to be predictable and frequent to minimize the wait at trolley stops, Jones said.

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