All along Edgewood Avenue and Auburn Avenue tracks have been placed for the Atlanta Streetcar Project, but despite the months of planning and construction, there is still no streetcar running on the tracks.

The Atlanta Streetcar Project began in 2003 when a group of like-minded prominent Atlantans came together to form Atlanta Streetcar, Inc., a company with a vision to bring a streetcar to the city. It took 10 years of planning and paperwork before construction on the streetcar project began in early 2013. Recently, however, the streetcar project has had its setbacks.

The project’s opening date was projected to be summer 2014 but has now been moved back to November. Sharon Gavin, communications director for the Atlanta Streetcar Project, wrote in an email interview that the delays were largely due to construction.

“Atlanta is an older city that’s been rebuilt many times, and we were building in the oldest part of the city­­—so that was a challenge,” Gavin wrote. “This past winter’s severe weather also played a role in the delays.”

The streetcar is a collaborative effort between the City of Atlanta, MARTA and Atlanta Downtown Improvement District. The Department of Transportation awarded the city a transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery capital grant of $47.6 million on Oct. 15, 2010. Local funds from the ADID and the City of Atlanta covered the other costs. The current cost of the streetcar is $89 million, though the Atlanta Streetcar Project has budgeted $98 million for the project.

The streetcar’s route will go through Auburn Avenue and Edgewood Avenue into downtown Atlanta, with stops at 12 destinations along the way.

The streetcar is part of the city’s transportation plan, Connect Atlanta, which was developed to accommodate Atlanta’s growing population while creating a more desirable place to live.

“Streetcars are more than the ‘next new thing’ in urban transportation,” Gavin wrote. “With a growing number of people—both younger workers and empty nesters—choosing to move into or near large cities, streetcars make sense because they can easily connect passengers with a wide array of activities and jobs in the urban corridors.”

Matt Ruppert, chef and owner of Noni’s Bar and Deli located on Edgewood Avenue, said the construction has had a negative impact on his restaurant.

“Up until now it’s been mostly negative because they’ve been building it,” Ruppert said. “So we’ve had to deal with a lot of construction on the streets for several months now, actually a little over a year and it’s gotten a lot better than it used to be.”

Ruppert said the management behind the streetcar, however, has done a good job at keeping the affected businesses informed on the progress of the streetcar.

“They’ve sent out massive amounts of emails,” Ruppert said, “and representatives have physically entered my bar, restaurant, to shake my hand and tell me what’s going on many, many times in the last year.”

Another business located on Edgewood Avenue along the streetcar route, Sweet Auburn Curb Market, has seen a renewed focus to the 90-year old market because of the construction of the streetcar. Like Ruppert, Pamela Joiner, general manager of Sweet Auburn Curb Market, said she has been consistently informed on the progress of the streetcar and any construction problems along the way.

“The most recent update I know of is the nightly testing and the expectation that the car will run by December,” Joiner wrote via email.

While an official opening date has not been set, the streetcar is rumored to open by November or December according to Ruppert.

“Mayor Reed has said from the start that the Atlanta Streetcar will open in 2014, and it will,” Gavin said. “He has consistently said the only deadline that matters is his promise of opening by Dec. 31, 2014.”

Ruppert is hopeful for the streetcar’s success and thinks it will draw a variety of different people, from Georgia State University students to big business workers and tourists to the area. He also believes the streetcar will make Atlanta a contender to be recognized as a world-class city.

“I think one of the things that contributes to that idea is public transportation,” Ruppert said. “The ability for folks to not have to get in their car and drive around, I think, contributes in large part to a city being identified as more advanced, more cultural, more sophisticated. So I think that, I hope that, Atlanta will be perceived just like that and then some.”