Trolleys will take center stage at Memphis City Hall in two weeks as Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA) officials are expected to bring their plans for reviving the trolley system to the Memphis City Council.
MATA officials brought two resolutions for trolley funding to the council Tuesday, Jan. 20. The funds were leftover from existing grants. But MATA’s request to use them were delayed after council members expressed concerns about the system, especially the Madison Line.
“I’m not inclined to to support (the resolutions), not because I don’t like trolleys but I think that it might need a new design model on Madison Avenue,” said council member Harold Collins.
Council member Shea Flinn said he that he and Collins were “far from alone about questions on trolleys on Madison Avenue.”
“Since (the Madison Line’s) birth, it’s been a difficult situation,” Flinn said. “I’m not sure how well its worked out.”
The concerns may signal major changes ahead for the Memphis trolley system.
MATA president Ron Garrison said the funds he requested Tuesday weren’t specifically for the Madison Line but for the entire system. The funds will pay for upgrades to the tracks, the trolleys, and trolley stops.
Also, the funds will help pay for a team of rail and safety consultants who have been working with MATA to get the system back online.
Those consultants will accompany Garrison at city hall in two weeks as they present their overall plan for the trolley system. It will be the first public review of the plan to revive the trolley system since the system was shut down last year.
