Mardi

Now that the Loyola Ave. streetcar extension is open, it's time to transfer to the streetcar that gets off at Elysian Fields. The Regional Transit Authority will hold a meeting Wednesday night to brief the public on plans for the N. Rampart St./St. Claude Ave. expansion.

The meeting is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. at the Hyatt French Quarter (800 Iberville St.). Topics covered will include the project's schedule, track alignment, the location of stops on the streetcar and designs for shelters.

The RTA has enough money to extend the streetcar from Canal St. down N. Rampart St. and St. Claude Ave. to Elysian Fields Ave. Current plans call for about 1.2 miles of new track to be laid. Previous plans called for streetcar line to run down Elysian Fields between St. Claude and the riverfront, but that portion of the scheme was later abandoned.

Marigny-Bywater residents and Councilwoman Kristin Gisleson Palmer have long spoken up for the streetcar to be extended down St. Claude Ave. to Press St. and Poland Ave. However, the RTA did not win funding for the project from a round of TIGER grants through the U.S. Department of Transportation in 2011. That marked the second time the expansion all the way to Poland Ave. was denied by the feds.