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TUCSON - As promised, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood came to Tucson Thursday morning to write a check for $63 million for a modern streetcar.

Voters approved the streetcar project in 2006 as part of the Regional Transportation Plan. The federal money will pay for roughly half of the project. Pima County's half cent transportation sales tax will pay for the rest.

The streetcar will connect the University of Arizona with downtown and Rio Nuevo on the city's westside.

LaHood says, "This is a game changer. It's a game changer for Tucson."

Tucson Mayor Bob Walkup calls it the epicenter of downtown revitalization.

Chinese food restaurant owner Mr. An hopes so. He says, "I'm going to open a 15,000 square foot building. Before I'm kind of wondering, kind of half way sleeping every night. But now I can sleep full sleep. And I'm just very happy for myself and Tucson."

Steve Moffett is building the hotel at the Tucson Convention Center. He says, "Everywhere streetcars go, development happens all around it. It's huge for Convention Center guests to have a streetcar that they can hop on and go to restaurants and go to the University and get around downtown."

University of Arizona President Robert Shelton says a streetcar will make it easier for the University to have classes and student housing downtown.

Shelton says, "Generations of students and staff and faculty will come to this University and will benefit enormously by the connection that this streetcar brings."

For more information on the modern streetcar you can go to http://www.tucsontransitstudy.com/