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I know it isn't the best aligned nor edited Metro map, but I had to work with Edraw Trial Version and MS Paint.
I think this is awesome, as among other great things it would let conductors announce the "Last Train to Clarksburg" (yes, I know it was Clarksville) every evening.
I think it would be cool if they gave Annapolis a transit hub for the area with Metro, MARC, and Light Rail having a terminus there. Most residents in Annapolis would probably oppose such a plan because they don't want crime from Baltimore or Inner PG coming into the area. In the 60's proposals were developed for Baltimore to have a comprehensive Metro System 71 miles long very similar to DC's WMATA. Due to funding limitations only a segment of the system was built which is Baltimore's only subway line.
In the original Baltimore Region Rapid Transit System Plan the "South Line" was supposed to be from the Inner Harbor to Marley in Anne Arundel County just north of Severna Park. Residents and political leaders in Anne Arundel County had fears about "undesirable elements" coming into the county via the subway, and many transit buffs cite this as the origin of the term "LOOT rail", a takeoff of "light rail" meaning that criminals without cars who live in the city would take the subway to the suburbs, commit burglaries and robberies, and then take the subway back to the city; and that by building a subway to the suburbs, that such crimes would be greatly facilitated. These complaints eventually led MTA to eliminate the whole south segment line of the plan, only for the light rail to be built following almost the exact same route as the original plan for the southern line.
Anyways If I were king here's how I would arrange this.
LIGHT RAIL EXTENSION (17 Miles Total)
Cromwell Station (existing)
Glen Burnie
Marley Station Mall
Pasadena
Earleigh Heights
Serverna Park
College Parkway
Arnold
Rowe Blvd
State House (Downtown Annapolis Terminus)
ORANGE LINE EXTENSION (15.8 Miles Total)
New Carrolton (Existing)
Lanham
Annapolis Road
Bowie (Collington Road)
Crofton
Defense Highway
Truman Parkway
Annapolis Mall (Parole)
Westgate Circle
State House (Downtown Annapolis Terminus)
MARC LINE EXTENSION (CAPITOL LINE)
Odenton (Existing)
Gambrills
Millersville
Generals Highway
Parole
State House (Downtown Annapolis Terminus)
Sound good. How about a high speed train to Ocean City from this amazing new Annapolis transit center while we are at it.
As nice as a beltway line would be, I think we all know it would never happen. It would be too long and too expensive. I really don't think a line to BWI is needed, yes it does have Washington's name on it, but it is mostly Baltimore's airport. I really don't think a line to Annapolis is needed, that would require a really long line out into the suburbs. Metro needs to focus on covering the rest of DC before it thinks about another long line to the suburbs. A separated blue line would be nice. Create a new station in Rosslyn, that would help that chokehold, and after it goes through it's new Rosslyn station it should cut up toward Georgetown. That is the biggest priority to me. The downtown loop that metro has proposed is an awful idea and will do little to help DC residents, it is mostly a bonus for people from the suburbs
The downtown loop that metro has proposed is an awful idea and will do little to help DC residents, it is mostly a bonus for people from the suburbs
I see some benefits for DC residents resulting from the downtown loop:
1. Georgetown University and the Georgetown neighborhood would be connected to the city's heavy rail network. This benefits residents of that neighborhood directly, as well for tourists and DC residents shopping in the neighborhood.
2. A "Thomas Circle" stop would give the dense Logan circle neighborhood (also containing DC's densest residential census tract which happens to directly abut the proposed stop location) connectivity to the city's heavy rail network. This stop would be able to serve DC's office market directly to the south and dense residential population directly to the north simultaneously.
3. A "New Jersey Avenue" stop would give the high-rise Mount Vernon Triangle neighborhood connectivity to Metrorail. Mount Vernon Triangle will be one of the densest neighborhoods in DC by 2020.
4. A "Supreme Court" stop at about 2nd and Maryland Ave NE would, in addition to serving federal interests, would actually serve the very residential middle of the Capitol Hill neighborhood with its row homes and apartment buildings.
As a side note:
I would imagine DC residents along H Street would desire a blue line re-route to be extended east from Union Station instead of turning south. Metro planners have said that stop along H Street does not meet their density criteria to place a stop there. I'd like to know what the specific criteria is that they are using or are they using it as an excuse since the streetcar is being built there. I think before the downtown loop is ready to be built, the low-capacity streetcar will prove that the H Street/Atlas District corridor still won't have sufficient transit capacity by that time. Numerous census tracts along H Street/Atlas District should be 30,000+ people per square mile residential density. Will that be enough to move WMATA to reconsider the corridor at a later date? I'd like to just know the criteria they used and not just saying its H Street's current/future density does not support a stop as an excuse because of the streetcar being built there now. It very well may be the density of H Street is such that it falls in the middle of not being enough to support Metrorail but more than what a streetcar can support. We currently don't have a middle ground for such cases (i.e. real light rail (streetcar in my book is not light-rail) or medium-capacity dedicated system).
Last edited by revitalizer; 08-10-2014 at 02:35 PM..
I see some benefits for DC residents resulting from the downtown loop:
1. Georgetown University and the Georgetown neighborhood would be connected to the city's heavy rail network. This benefits residents of that neighborhood directly, as well for tourists and DC residents shopping in the neighborhood.
2. A "Thomas Circle" stop would give the dense Logan circle neighborhood (also containing DC's densest residential census tract which happens to directly abut the proposed stop location) connectivity to the city's heavy rail network. This stop would be able to serve DC's office market directly to the south and dense residential population directly to the north simultaneously.
3. A "New Jersey Avenue" stop would give the high-rise Mount Vernon Triangle neighborhood connectivity to Metrorail. Mount Vernon Triangle will be one of the densest neighborhoods in DC by 2020.
4. A "Supreme Court" stop at about 2nd and Maryland Ave NE would, in addition to serving federal interests, would actually serve the very residential middle of the Capitol Hill neighborhood with its row homes and apartment buildings.
all of which could be achieved through a less costly blue line separation
all of which could be achieved through a less costly blue line separation
But, Metro would be fixing a regional capacity issue with the blue line re-route. The benefit to DC residents is still there, even if the impetus is for the larger regional issue which Metro would still need to do (with more high-capacity metro rail through downtown DC) regardless. I was just highlighting the benefit to DC residents. The low-capacity, mixed-traffic streetcar system DC is building will have minimal effect on reducing crowding on the high-capacity dedicated metro rail system, regionally. DC and Metro have even said as much in their published studies to date.
I think there should be support behind building a middle-ground system on dedicated rails (light-rail or medium-capacity) in DC. The mixed-traffic single-car streetcar is not that system. If such a system were contemplated, I would support it over metro rail or the streetcar in places where there is a need for transit capacity that is higher than the streetcar but lower than metro rail. And, I think many of the areas that are planned for streetcar fall into this middle-ground need.
Last edited by revitalizer; 08-10-2014 at 02:52 PM..
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