After more than a decade of talking about it, the Department of Transportation is taking an important step towards the creation of a light-rail trolley line connecting Red Hook to the start of Brooklyn Bridge Park at Atlantic Avenue; the news would be particularly welcome in light of recent cuts to bus to and from the isolated former industrial neighborhood. Rep. Nydia Velazquez secured $300,000 in funding for a study of the project back in 2005, but the transportation department is only just now drawing down on the funds. Velazquez has a request pending for $10 million to build the project, a number that falls at the low end of estimates by Bob Diamond, who’s been lobbying for the project through his group Brooklyn Historic Railway Association since 1989. You can see a map of BHRA’s proposed route here.
Trolley Good News for Red Hook Rail Plan [NY Post]
Red Hook’s Streetcar Plan Garners Support [Brownstoner]
Resurrecting Red Hook’s Trolley Tracks [Brownstoner]
Could Streetcars Return to Brooklyn? [Brownstoner]
Photo by fldelundell