ATLANTA -- Overwhelming positive response has organizers of a streetcar line skipping a step in their plans, moving a trolley line on Peachtree Street closer to reality.

Organizers say the idea of running streetcars from downtown Atlanta to the Buckhead shopping and entertainment district has been so popular that they're bypassing plans for a preliminary study and moving straight to more detailed feasibility research.

"We were looking for naysayers, but at every door that became a non-issue," said Michael Robison, chairman of the private, nonprofit group formed last month to try to put trolleys on Peachtree after a 40-year lapse. "When we found out we would not have to do selling ... through a road show, we decided on doing a more detailed study."

The cost and scope of the comprehensive study are still being worked out.

Within five years, members of Atlanta Streetcar Inc. hope to build an eight-mile streetcar line that could cost at least $200 million.

They are getting their inspiration from Portland, Ore., where a $55 million private-public investment in a streetcar line there helped spawn more than $1 billion in development.