UNIVERSITY CITY • Four decades after they died off like transportation dinosaurs, streetcars took a big step toward returning on Friday as details emerged of a plan for a trolley line from the Delmar Loop to Forest Park.

The $44 million St. Louis Loop Trolley Project, backed by $25 million in federal funding, will feature hybrid-electric trolleys running from the Loop to the Missouri History Museum.

Groundbreaking is expected in late 2011, and the trolleys will be rolling by fall 2012, said Joe Edwards, the unofficial mayor of the Loop who has been working behind the scenes to secure funding for the project since the late 1990s.

The federal grant was formally announced Friday at a press conference outside the Blueberry Hill restaurant in the Loop attended by U.S. Reps. William Lacy Clay and Russ Carnahan, U.S. Undersecretary of Transportation Roy W. Kienitz, and St. Louis County Executive Charlie A. Dooley.

Streetcar projects in Charlotte, N.C., Cincinnati, Dallas/Fort Worth and Seattle also were awarded federal grants. The funding balance for the new Loop line will have to come from private sources.

Questions remain about who will operate the trolley and be responsible for maintenance.

From 1888 to 1966, electric streetcars — or trolleys — criss-crossed the streets of St. Louis and inner suburbs. Some trundled out to Kingsland Avenue and Delmar Boulevard and then looped back. The tracks are long gone, but the area's Loop name remains.

Clay recalled riding trolleys as a child, when he caught a streetcar at Belt Avenue that took him to school at Olive and Spring streets.

"Just imagine, we can relive that," he said. "Maybe not all the way to Olive and Spring, but partway there."

Carnahan, who serves on the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said not all transportation projects are 'sexy."

"But streetcars sound kind of sexy," he said, eliciting a wolf-whistle from the crowd.

The audience of several dozen saved the biggest applause for Edwards.

"Way to go, Joe!" some in the crowd began chanting as Edwards stepped to the lectern. In a flower-patterned shirt rolled up at the sleeves, the bearded, long-haired Loop impresario presented a bohemian counterpoint to the politicians in dark suits who shared the dais with him.

The line will be more than a gimmick, said Edwards, 64, who owns several businesses in the Loop, including Blueberry Hill, the Moonrise Hotel, the Pageant theater and Pin-Up Bowl.

"If you look at other cities that have them, trolleys lead to more commercial and retail activity, as well as neighborhood vitality," he said.

The 2.2-mile, fixed-track trolley will have nine stops, including the Forest Park and Delmar MetroLink stations; Crossroads College Preparatory School; the Pageant; the Tivoli Theatre; and the Market In the Loop.

The trolleys will run in both traffic lanes of Delmar west of the old Wabash train station.

Tim Page, a project engineer with the firm CH2M Hill, predicted that the trolleys will alleviate traffic congestion in the Loop.

"They'll travel right along with traffic, accelerating and braking like a car," Page said.

East of the Wabash station, the trolleys will transition to a single track running down the middle of Delmar. The trolleys will also run on a single set of tracks on DeBaliviere.

DeBaliviere will be reconfigured from four lanes to two. Traffic will be moved to the west side of DeBaliviere, while the trolley and a greenway for bicycles and pedestrians will be on the east side. Page said the trolleys will be hybrid-electric models. They will run on battery power west of the Wabash station.

East of the station, they will be powered by overhead electric lines on Delmar and DeBaliviere that will recharge the batteries.

The cars will be retro-styled but with modern amenities such as air conditioning, heating and efficient mechanical systems.

Plans are to buy at least five cars at a cost of $1 million to $1.5 million each.

Some costs, and who will bear them, are are not completely clear.

Edwards said the trolley is expected to cost about $4 million a year to operate. Operating costs assume the trolley will operate every 10 minutes from 7 a.m. to 1 a.m. daily.

But annual costs could be as low as $2.5 million if hours are shorter or fewer cars are used, he said.

Edwards said funding is expected from a variety of sources, including pay-as-you-go ridership; a transportation development district in University City; a tax increment financing district in the St. Louis section of the Loop; and private donations.

Officials in University City and St. Louis said they will not be responsible for any of the costs.

Another issue left to be answered is who will operate the system.

"That's still to be decided," Edwards said. He said the Loop line is only the start.

"Someday," he said, "I envision trolleys running all the way to the riverfront."