[Matthew]

The last City Council Meeting on priorities for 2011 discussed the importance of the streetcar system.

I'm guessing (and only guessing) the high cost has something to do with how they will hide the overhead wires. According to the report, they will use artwork combined with landscaping. Winston-Salem is The City of Art & Innovation and has groups working to bring major art projects to the city's new transportation infrastructure. They want this art to become a defining feature of the city. It also appears the streetcar may expand to include the airport. Renderings just released a week ago included streetcars as part of a $275 million proposed mixed-use development northeast of downtown.

The owner of Union Station is still trying to work-out a deal with the city to build his mixed-use 18-storey skyscraper and rail hub. He is seeking $1.5 million to help move the project forward.

The maintenance yard is proposed for the corner of West First Street and South Hawthorne Street, behind the First Street Draught House bar. Due to terrain issues in the Appalachian Foothills (ridges and valleys) Winston-Salem has elevated highways and highway cuts through rock ridges. WSTA will hide the maintenance yard under one of the elevated stretches of highway, in the valley below Hawthorne Hill.