Fifteen months after it began, the track loop for the Cincinnati Streetcar in Over the Rhine is now finished.
Just after 9:00 Monday morning workers welded the track together on Race Street between Elder and Green Streets, just south of Findlay Market.
This is the track that will serve as the test track for the first streetcar vehicles when they arrive in the fall of 2015. Workers still have to install overhead power lines and poles in OTR.
This loop connects to the Central Business District (CBD) loop at 12th and Race. Track work in the CBD continues and will be finished in mid-2015.
Phase 1a of the Cincinnati Streetcar includes a 3.6 mile route through OTR and the CBD. Construction is expected to be completed in Spring 2016 with passenger service to start in the Fall 2016.
Future phases include a connection to and circulator through Cincinnati's Uptown area.