Arlington streetcar plan dead (for now) (Washington, Columbia: 2014, neighborhoods, buy)

[pcity]

Arlington officials to halt work on Columbia Pike, Crystal City streetcar projects - The Washington Post

Wonder if it will be revived in the future.

[KnownUnknown]

That just seems like an insane amount of money for a service already being met by buses.

[Carlingtonian]

Originally Posted by KnownUnknown

That just seems like an insane amount of money for a service already being met by buses.

Indeed.

The County Board (well, three of the five members) attempt to justify it by pointing to all the development it will bring--as if we need more development in Arlington. We have a glut of office space, rents are higher than many people can afford, and the schools are packed. So bringing more people to an already crowded corridor is not the solution. Not to mention that the streetcar would cause an insane level of traffic backups in an area where rush-hour traffic is already pretty heavy.

[gomason]

A great example of when good public policy meets terrible politics. NIMBY at its finest.

[jeff22152]

Hello. I disliked this project from the start and I'm glad to see it shelved.

Let's face it: Metro D.C. is not a streetcar friendly area in the 21st century. Given the high levels of traffic around here, streetcars without a dedicated right-of-way offer nothing above what a cheaper and more operationally flexible bus offers. Granted, an expensive streetcar line might literally buy a jurisdiction more high-end development along the corridor, but that development comes with unsavory long-term costs in the form of greater strains on overall local infrastructure (which Carlingtonian alluded to above).

I would consider supporting streetcar systems that operate on dedicated right-of-ways and could demonstrate improved transit efficiency along a busy corridor. But even then, I'm inclined to consider BRT systems first.

[The Dissenter]

Can't say I'm heartbroken by this. The Pike is already congested and dangerous enough. A streetcar would just make more congestion. Plus the buses already provide what this streetcar was supposed to do.

[Fallout Zone]

Arlington residents have decided that they don't want more growth. That's what this is about.

[gomason]

Development is coming to Arlington no matter what. Just ask the people who fought it in Western PWC for years to stop the Disney project only to have developers come in and build their cookie cutter souless neighborhoods.

[Mr. Benz]

Good! It was a dumb idea in the first place

[pcity]

Originally Posted by jeff22152

I would consider supporting streetcar systems that operate on dedicated right-of-ways and could demonstrate improved transit efficiency along a busy corridor. But even then, I'm inclined to consider BRT systems first.

I agree with this. This is why I like the Crystal City-Potomac Yard Transitway.

It will be interesting to see how the H Street streetcars work in mixed traffic. If they end up flopping, it will look like Arlington dodged a bullet by putting the Columbia Pike streetcar on hold.