The Hard Rock collapse closed the Rampart streetcar line. Here's why its return is still far off.

[marmar]

NEW ORLEANS -- Another year is expected to pass before the Regional Transit Authority reopens the six-year-old Rampart-St. Claude streetcar line, which has been shuttered since the 2019 Hard Rock Hotel collapse damaged the nearby street and streetcar infrastructure.

During a City Council committee meeting Wednesday, RTA deputy CEO Lona Edwards Hankins shared a presentation that said a return of service was now expected by December, roughly a year later than an estimate RTA officials gave in April.

The RTA said that before providing that earlier estimate, engineers hadn't been allowed full access to the site because of debris and the building's long-delayed demolition. When they were able to do a full assessment last year, they discovered that several poles supporting the streetcar line's overhead power lines would need to be replaced. The RTA also blamed "staffing shortages, supply-chain delays and impacts from Hurricane Ida."

Hankins told council members during the virtual meeting that service could return sooner than December, depending on the extent of underground damage found during "underground forensic work." ..............(more)

https://www.masstransitmag.com/rail/infrastructure/news/21252185/la-the-hard-rock-collapse-closed-the-rampart-streetcar-line-heres-why-its-return-is-still-far-off