Jason Williams

jwilliams@enquirer.com

The idea of building a modern streetcar in Cincinnati was hatched 15 years ago, some 2,400 miles away from the city.

It later gained momentum in a Mount Auburn ice cream parlor.

And now, after wending through twists and turns and hurdling mountains and molehills, the idea becomes reality.

Here is a look at the Cincinnati streetcar's journey to Friday's public opening.

Historical perspective: Laying the groundwork

• April 29, 1951: After nearly a century of horse-drawn, steam-powered and electrical vehicles, Cincinnati's original streetcars make their final run.

• 1993: The Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments transportation planning agency releases a study that mentions the potential need for a regional light-rail system. Mayor Roxanne Qualls uses the study to introduce the idea of a passenger rail line running along Interstate 71 from Downtown to Blue Ash. It lays the groundwork for the MetroMoves ballot initiative nearly a decade later.

• Summer 2001: Downtown resident John Schneider, engineer John Deatrick and a small group of engineers and transportation planners travel to Portland, Oregon, to see the city's nearly completed streetcar line. Schneider would return to Portland 34 more times over the next several years, bringing more than 500 people from Cincinnati in hopes they'll catch the vision for building a streetcar.

• Nov. 5, 2002: Hamilton County voters overwhelmingly reject the $2.7 billion MetroMoves proposal, which included a 60-mile light rail system and a $100 million extension of bus service. It also proposed two streetcar lines – Downtown-to-Uptown and Downtown to Northern Kentucky.

2004-2010: Mallory pushes for streetcar

• 2004: OKI approves a long-range transit plan that calls for a Downtown streetcar. Also this year, Schneider begins contacting elected officials to pitch the idea of a streetcar. Democratic state Sen. Mark Mallory takes Schneider up on an invitation to meet, and they discuss the idea at Graeter's on Reading Road in Mount Auburn.

• Nov. 9, 2005: Mallory defeats Councilman David Pepper to become Cincinnati's 68th mayor.

• Feb. 9, 2006: Downtown architect Michael Moose and Clifton Heights developer Dan Deering tell the Cincinnati Business Courier they've put together a plan for a $100 million streetcar to run from the Ohio River in Downtown to the Cincinnati Zoo. They say they're working on getting meetings with City Council and Hamilton County commissioners. It's the first known public mention of a modern streetcar in Downtown.

• August 2006: Mallory hires Milton Dohoney as city manager. Dohoney likes the idea of a streetcar helping redevelopment in Downtown and Over-the-Rhine.

• Sept. 17, 2006: The Enquirer mentions the streetcar for the first time in a story about Downtown development. The story mentions Schneider's efforts to get a streetcar built.

• December 2006: The city gives the go-ahead to Omaha-based engineering firm HDR to conduct a full feasibility study for the streetcar.

• May 30, 2007: Councilman Chris Bortz presents results of HDR's study to City Council. The study concludes that a 3.9-mile streetcar system would produce $1.4 billion in long-term benefits, including new homes and jobs.

• October 2007: Bortz puts forth a resolution to direct the city administration to develop a plan for a streetcar system. Eight of nine council support the resolution. Councilman John Cranley is the only one who doesn't.

• April 2008: Council approves a motion to look at building a $137 million streetcar that would run from Downtown through Over-the-Rhine to Pill Hill. The tentative financing plan includes several big ifs: $31 million from the private sector, money not yet solicited, and another $35 million that the city has yet to identify. This time, Cranley votes in favor of the streetcar, although he says the money should be spent elsewhere. "If someone else wants to pay for it ... that would be fine," Cranley says.

• Nov. 3, 2009: Cincinnati voters reject, 56-44 percent, a proposed charter amendment that would have killed the streetcar by requiring future public votes on all passenger rail plans.

• August 2010: City Council authorizes administrators to proceed with $44 million in grants and $64 million in city-issued bonds that will finance most of the $128 million first phase of a Downtown-to-Uptown streetcar line.

2011: State money gone, but gift from feds

• March 15: Assistant City Solicitor Jonathan Brodhag writes a two-page memo saying the city, not Duke Energy, is responsible for relocating utility lines for the streetcar. The memo says the government is responsible for relocating utilities for a publicly funded transit project in publicly funded streets. The memo is kept secret from the public, and city attorneys later cite attorney-client privilege in a court case against Duke.

• March 18: In a stunning setback, new Ohio Gov. John Kasich says during a visit to Cincinnati that his administration wants to withhold $52 million in state funding for the streetcar because he doubts the rosy projections by supporters and economic studies.

• April 12: Completing a reversal of fortune for the streetcar, the state's transportation review council pulls the plug on the $52 million. City officials concede the decision will force them to scale back the proposed riverfront-to-Uptown route, and later settle on a line from Downtown to Over-the-Rhine.

• Nov. 8: Cincinnati voters again defeat an anti-streetcar ballot issue, this time by narrowly rejecting Issue 48, which would have prohibited the city from spending money on a streetcar through at least December 2020. The vote clears the way for a line that initially will extend from Downtown's Government Square to just north of Findlay Market.

• December: U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood gives an early Christmas gift to streetcar supporters by visiting City Hall to award an $11 million federal grant to the project. The money allows the city to restore a leg of the route, dropped after the state's funding withdrawal, that extends the line's southern end to The Banks.

2012: Premature groundbreaking?

• Feb. 10: Despite an impasse and $12 million disagreement with Duke Energy over the cost of relocating utility lines, Mayor Mallory announces plans to break ground on the project a week later. By this time, the cost has been reset to $110 million.

• Feb. 17: LaHood returns to Cincinnati to take part in the groundbreaking ceremony at Memorial Hall in OTR. "The path has been long," Mallory says. "It's been full of challenges, it's been questioned, it's been put to the task. But I think all of you know this is worth doing." If all goes smoothly, the streetcar will open to the public in spring 2014.

• September: Council approves setting aside $15 million from the city's sale of Blue Ash airport to pay for streetcar utility relocation. The money is put into escrow in case the city loses its court battle with Duke Energy over whether taxpayers or ratepayers are responsible for relocating utility lines.

• Nov. 14: Democrat John Cranley, a bond attorney and former councilman, announces he's running for mayor in 2013.

• Dec. 6: Democratic Vice Mayor Roxanne Qualls announces she'll run for mayor.

2013: Drama. drama and more drama

• January: The Enquirer obtains documents from City Hall that show the streetcar opening will be delayed until at least spring 2016.

• February: Construction bids come in at least $26 million over budget, once again clouding the project's future.

• April 9: In an effort to save the project, city leaders say they want Banks Project Manager John Deatrick to become the full-time streetcar manager. He previously had done planning work for the streetcar system in Washington D.C.

• April 16: City Manager Milton Dohoney releases a damning memo revealing the streetcar faces a $22.7 million funding gap. The total project cost is now $133 million, up from $110 million. The document shows Deatrick and other consultants had identified $5.3 million in cuts, but the deficit still is at $17.4 million.

• April 17: Council's staunchest supporters are wavering, including Qualls. Councilman Wendell Young says the project needs a "miracle." But Mallory condescendingly tells an Enquirer reporter in a City Hall elevator that he'll dig through the couch cushions in his office to find the money. By this time, Cranley is in full attack mode on the streetcar during his campaign. "The streetcar has been a bad idea and a bad deal for the people of Cincinnati from the beginning," Cranley says. "Enough is enough."

• June 24: In a 5-4 vote, Council's budget committee approves another $17.4 million for the streetcar. Most of the money comes from a fund set aside to renovate Music Hall, upgrade infrastructure around the casino and loans.

• July 15: A group led by Cincinnati-based Messer Construction signs a $71.4 million contract to build the 3.6-mile route. It's revealed the contractor needs an additional $492,933 because of the delay in signing the contract while Council figured out how to cover the deficit.

• August: Messer begins work along the route. Crews also start work on a $12 million streetcar garage in OTR. During the Aug. 26 ground-breaking ceremony, Mallory seemingly sends a message to Cranley. "Let me tell you what's happening today: We're putting an end to the question whether or not the streetcar's going to happen," Mallory tells reporters.

• September: After turning over the Brodhag memo to Duke Energy during discovery, the city asks a Hamilton County judge that the document be "destroyed." Duke attorney Matthew Fellerhoff says the memo "can't disappear from our memory" and argues the document should remain part of the case. He also calls the memo a source of "embarrassment" for the city.

• Sept. 11: Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Carl Stich says the city inadvertently turned over the memo to Duke Energy and orders the utility company to destroy the document.

• Oct. 7: Mallory unveils renderings of the streetcar vehicles in front of 200 supporters at an OTR brewery. The five streetcars will be painted orange, gray and white, feature a street-level floor and have a nearly all-glass front. "This has been a long, exhausting process," Mallory says.

• Nov. 5: Cranley decisively defeats Roxanne Qualls, 58-42 percent, to become the city's 69th mayor. The former councilman continues to call the election a referendum on the streetcar. "We are going to get out of the streetcar," Cranley says on election night.

• Nov. 6: During a press conference from his Hyde Park living room, Cranley says he's already asked the White House to allow the city to reprogram $45 million in federal money committed to the streetcar. At the time, six of the nine new Council members had said they opposed the streetcar. "I think it's dead," Cranley declares.

• Nov. 14: Led by Over-the-Rhine Community Council President Ryan Messer, nearly 500 streetcar supporters gather in Downtown to launch a grassroots effort to save the project. More than 300 supporters fill the Mercantile Library to capacity. Another 150 supporters are turned away and asked to rally on Fountain Square, where they watch the hour-long event streamed on the square's giant television screen. The gathering essentially launches the Believe in Cincinnati advocacy group.

• Nov. 19: Cranley tells The Enquirer he favors an idea to start a rubber-tired trolley system in Downtown and Over-the-Rhine as a cheaper option to the streetcar. "This is the kind of affordable alternative to the streetcar that can help achieve a lot of the good things streetcar supporters want," Cranley says. His comments anger streetcar supporters who have long claimed fixed-rail streetcars drive urban redevelopment.

• Dec. 1: Cranley and the newly elected City Council are sworn into office at City Hall. Several blocks away, hundreds of Believe in Cincinnati members gather in Washington Park calling on new city leaders not to cancel the project.

• Dec. 3: The Brodhag memo is leaked to The Enquirer.

• Dec. 4: In the first of many drama-filled streetcar meetings to come over the next three weeks, Council votes 5-4 to pause streetcar construction indefinitely. Democrat P.G. Sittenfeld votes against the pause after campaigning on stopping the streetcar. Council also decides to hire an independent consultant to look at the cost to permanently cancel the project.

• Dec. 6: The Federal Transit Administration gives the city a Dec. 19 deadline to make a final decision on the streetcar or else Washington will yank its $45 million from the project.

• Dec. 11: Believe in Cincinnati launches a petition drive to ensure having the 5,969 valid signatures needed to, if necessary, force a special election to try to change city law and require the streetcar be built.

• Dec. 12: Cranley announces he'll support moving forward with the project if streetcar supporters could raise $80 million to cover operating costs over 30 years. He gives them an impossible deadline of one week.

• Dec. 16: Vice Mayor David Mann and Councilman Kevin Flynn publicly say they're open to moving forward with the streetcar after voting for the indefinite work stoppage. Mann says he's "very impressed" by the outpouring of support from the community for the streetcar.

• Dec. 18: Results of global auditing firm KPMG's study are released. The city will be out between $50.3 million and $80.1 million if the project is fully cancelled, the audit shows. The study doesn't sway Cranley, who remains committed to killing the project. "We've inherited a mess," he says. "This is not fun."

• Dec. 19: A surreal three weeks at City Hall comes down to this day. About 10 minutes before Council is to vote on the streetcar's fate, Cranley calls a press conference and declares: "We're going to have a streetcar. ... As I tell my (4-year-old) son when he doesn't get his way, it's time to move on." Flynn is the swing vote, assuring Council has a veto-proof sixth vote. He changes his mind after working through the previous night to reach a deal with the Haile U.S. Bank Foundation. The organization and private donors commit $9 million to help cover operating costs over the first decade. Later in the day, The Enquirer finds out influential business leaders Tom Williams and Joseph A. Pichler privately voiced support for the Haile Foundation's efforts.

• Dec. 26: Streetcar work resumes with the delivery of 2,100 feet of rail. "It's a beautiful thing," streetcar supporter Noel Prows says as he watches a crane unload sections of rail off a truck on a cold, sunny day in Over-the-Rhine.

2014: 'Budget cooked'

• April 1: Streetcar leaders reveal the project's December shut down costs: $987,108. Cranley says the cost is inconsequential at this point. Had the project been cancelled, he says, "we would've saved $40 million out of the capital budget and all of the operating costs in the future. ... The only regret I have is council changed its mind. I still think the city would be better off without it."

• July 15: On the original schedule, the city is supposed to take delivery of its first streetcar vehicle. It doesn't happen.

• Dec. 2: City loses a two-year court battle against Duke Energy over utility relocation. "This is another example of why this project was a bad idea from the start," Cranley says. "It takes precious resources away from neighborhoods." The cost of the project is now $148 million.

• Dec. 11: Miffed by the recent revelation that nearly all of the $9.7 million project contingency fund has been spent, Cranley holds a meeting with City Manager Harry Black, Deatrick and other streetcar leaders. It's discovered the Mallory administration started dipping into the contingency fund from Day 1. "The budget was cooked from the beginning," Cranley tells reporters.

2015: Fighting continues

• March 23: The Federal Transit Administration sends a letter to SORTA saying if Council's meddling in the decision whether to hire a private operator or the union could delay the opening of the streetcar to the public.

• March 31: Reminiscent of December 2013, Council spends three hours bickering about five streetcar issues. It makes no decisions during the meeting.

• May 6: The Enquirer files a lawsuit against SORTA calling for the release of bid documents submitted by companies seeking to run the streetcar. SORTA has refused to release the records for over a month.

• June 5: Streetcar operating costs are no longer a mystery. SORTA reveals it will cost $4 million a year if the city chooses to hire a private operator or $4.7 million to have the local public transportation union run the system.

• July 2: The transit union makes a last-ditch effort to be awarded the streetcar contract after filing a lawsuit against the city and SORTA. Judge John Andrew West is supposed to hear the case, but he recuses himself over a potential conflict of interest with the union. With SORTA set to make a decision after the holiday weekend, lawyers scramble to find another judge. Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Steve Martin denies the union's request for a temporary restraining order.

• July 6: SORTA's board votes to hire France-based Transdev Services to run the streetcar. The private company runs passenger rail systems worldwide, but has little experience with U.S. streetcar systems. City Council still needs to approve the hiring.

• July 22: Councilman Young, a pro-streetcar Democrat, surprisingly changes his mind and votes against hiring the local transit union to run the streetcar. His vote swings the decision toward hiring the private operator, a move projected to save taxpayers about $700,000 a year.

• Aug. 3: It's revealed streetcar manufacturer CAF USA is behind in its work, and the company will not meet its contractual obligation to deliver the first vehicle by Sept. 17. All five vehicles, being built in Elmira Heights, New York, were to be delivered by Dec. 17, but now it's questionable whether any of them would arrive by the end of 2015.

• Aug. 6: The city administration sends a sternly worded memo to CAF USA expressing it is "deeply frustrated" with the vehicle-delivery delay and threatens legal action of the company doesn't live up to its contractual obligations.

• Oct. 16: Crews weld the final piece of the streetcar tracks, marking the end of major construction on the route. Supporters hold a press conference near Great American Ball Park to mark the occasion.

• Oct. 30: The city takes delivery of its first streetcar vehicle. A crowd of about 250 people, including Mallory and Qualls, line a block of Race Street as the streetcar is slowly unloaded from a flatbed truck. "This is a huge thrill," 92-year-old Sayler Park resident Earl Clark says.

2016: All aboard, finally

• March 16: University of Cincinnati President Santa Ono tells The Enquirer he wants the streetcar route extended to Uptown to serve UC students and faculty. It gives the project the high-profile and widely respected community champion it's never had.

• April 27: Council passes the streetcar operating budget with a 5-4 vote. Cranley had wanted a super-majority six votes, but decides not to veto the budget.

• Aug. 18: Cincinnati Bell signs a 10-year deal worth $3.4 million with the city and SORTA to put the company's name on the streetcar, a major milestone for a project that has long been seeking support from the corporate community. The streetcar is renamed the Cincinnati Bell Connector.

• Aug. 30: Officials unveil the streetcar's new branding. It's now green and blue to mimic Cincinnati Bell's brand colors, replacing the original light orange that had drawn criticism from people saying it looked too much like the Pittsburgh Steelers' yellow.

• Sept. 9: The streetcar opens to the public.

Timeline compiled from Enquirer and Cincinnati.com archives.