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Personally I haven't been a fan of the project--I think adding a third type of transit just adds to the mess that is Metro, rather than helping. Especially since the project wasn't going to connect the street car to any metro stations. But this far into the project? And to divert the funds to build more parks in Georgetown of all things?
I hope Gray wasn't thinking this was going to win him any votes in the mayoral.
Personally I haven't been a fan of the project--I think adding a third type of transit just adds to the mess that is Metro, rather than helping. Especially since the project wasn't going to connect the street car to any metro stations.
I agree; I'd rather have more Metro stations than add above ground light rail.
Yet, Metro is broke. Also, building Metro stations causes a lot of surface disruption. The neighborhoods that were affected by the green line extension in the 1990s suffered a lot for it. Many local business shuttered during the extensive construction period.
Even if the Metro budget were suddenly flush, I don't think you'd see DC relocating underground transformers, digging up streets, moving water and sewer pipes, etc. just to add underground stations to the current system. And the cost would be DC's. I doubt that Anapolis and Richmond would pony up for stations to serve urban infill. If the money did magically appear, it would still take a minimum of 10 years from planning to execution. (Look at how long it's been just to get something on the old DC convention center land, even though the plans to demolish it were in place ages ago.)
DDOT has a stated mission not to add any vehicular capacity to DC streets. In fact, we've been cutting traffic lanes for bikes lanes for about three years. I believe that DC has also done away with requirements that developers build a certain number of parking spaces for each residential unit or x square feet of commercial property.
Now that we have more residents and more commuters, how will we accommodate them? As above, adding more cars to the streets is out. Adding more Metro cars or routes does not appear feasible. Adding more buses just chokes up vehicular traffic (and buses already move at an average speed of less than 15 m.p.h.) So, we either have to have dedicated bus ways (coming soon to K Street) or streetcars or both.
Personally I haven't been a fan of the project--I think adding a third type of transit just adds to the mess that is Metro, rather than helping. Especially since the project wasn't going to connect the street car to any metro stations.
This has been my biggest problem with it. These are kind of the streetcars to nowhere--I understand that they had reasons for running them where they did, but it just didn't make sense to me why you wouldn't, for instance, connect the H Street streetcar line with the Gallery Place/Chinatown Metro stop.
I support the idea of streetcars, and I think there are a number of corridors that would benefit from them, but the execution could be better.
That said, the timing on this move by Gray is completely bogus. The time to axe the money for this project was years ago, before cars had been built and tracks had been laid. To do it now strikes me as either incompetence or an ill-planned quick fix to a budget issue.
I still think building an elevated train was better than streetcars. El train's don't disturb traffic one bit. Hell make it an elevated street car line
It's one option. However, I think that DC's zoning laws would prohibit elevated structures like train lines. In fact, one of the arguments against the street cars is that laws will have to be changed to allow for overhead power lines. One H St. citizens group was trying to scuttle the project because of the "unsightly" wires.
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