St. Paul mulls return of streetcars

The city of St. Paul is taking its most serious look yet at bringing back streetcars.

Nancy Homans, policy advisor to mayor Chris Coleman, said consultants have been looking over the city and are reporting back Monday on the prospects for streetcars.

"They are looking at our potential street car corridors, are looking at our existing infrastructure, are looking at our population demographics, and will be kind of assessing all the possible routes for street cars and which ones might make the most sense for the city," Homans said.

The city and Ramsey County hope a streetcar system would augment the coming light rail service that links the city with Minneapolis. They also hope the service might foster business and residential development in areas that aren't served by the new light rail.