D.C. metro project breaks new ground (pretty cool huh ? )

[14thandYou]

Originally Posted by goat314

It blows my mind that DC can afford to spend billions upon billions of dollars on subway lines and most cities can barely get federal/state support for light rail expansion and basic rail maintenance/upgrades. Now DC is about to get streetcars? Wow...concentration of power is something else.

You do realize that plans for the construction of a Metro line to Dulles has been on the books for over three decades, right? This didn't just spring up overnight.

[MDAllstar]

About 50% of this project is being paid for by the Dulles Toll Road drivers for the next 20 years. They are footing the bill for half the project. That's a great incentive to take the train instead of drive in my opinion. On a side note, D.C. is about to advance leaps and bounds when all these projects are done.

Silver line
Purple line
DC streets car network

[Akhenaton06]

Originally Posted by goat314

It blows my mind that DC can afford to spend billions upon billions of dollars on subway lines and most cities can barely get federal/state support for light rail expansion and basic rail maintenance/upgrades. Now DC is about to get streetcars? Wow...concentration of power is something else.

From the article:

Only $900 million of the $6.6 billion project is paid for by the federal government. Another $275 million is coming from the state of Virginia. Fairfax and Loudoun counties and the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority are providing 25% of the total. The remainder, more than 50% of the total, will be funded over 40 years from revenue collected from a toll road that goes to the airport.

[DC's Finest]

Most cities outside of the NE spend all of their money on ENORMOUS highways. Atlanta, Dallas and Houston have some of the most beautiful highways in the nation bisecting, criss crossing and cutting through their metros. But highways destroy the asthetic value of a city and also kills walkability. Houston has like 4 beltways or loops by itself. Imagine now if they would have invested all of that money into public transportation? Makes you think huh? DC is the anti-highway city. The tried to build four freeways through DC but thank god it never happened.

Washington D.C. Interstates and Freeways

D.C. Interstate System

Mayor Fenty wanted to lower 395 (SE/SW freeway) and make it into a ground level parkway because it cuts off DT DC from the SW Waterfront but they scratched the idea. Developers in DC are about to build over the 395 trench from Mass Ave to E street and turn that into a mixed use deveopment.

LDPG : Louis Dreyfus Property Group (http://www.ldproperty.com/395_air_rights/overview.php - broken link)