"As of today or tomorrow, we will pass the 200 total trenches in the downtown that have completed and we will have fewer than 30 that will remain and we will wrap that up in the next few weeks, Grabauskas said.

 That will happen around the time the city will appear in court for a second hearing to deal with other hurdles the project will have to scale.

Still, pieces of the rail project are slowly coming together. Once the 13,000 tons of steel arrives it will  sit around until the city gets the green light to resume construction.

 "I am looking forward to the day when those things are on columns actually transporting people," said Mayor Peter Carlisle.

And with that, the mayor couldn't resist giving the made-in-America steel rail -- a kiss -- for good measure.