Neighborhood Watch: Anacostia and Those Pesky Overhead Wires…Again
The Issue: The 11th Street Bridge Replacement Project hopes to improve the transport connection between Southeast-Southwest freeway and the Anacostia Freeway. Jolly good plan, DDOT, says the National Capital Planning Committee (NCPC). Except for the proposed streetcar overhead wires, obviously.
Opponent: A new NCPC report says: "The Commission does not support a streetcar system with overhead wires because it supports the unobstructed views to important landmarks along the cities [sic] streets and avenues."
Proponent: Greta Fuller ANC commissioner for 8A03 says, "I'm not against the street car wires if that's how it's got to run. But I've got worries for the immediate residents in the area, with the traffic they are going to bottle neck us in."
ANC 8A07 Commissioner Lendia Johnson is against the street wires...because they'll have streetcars attached: "I'm not happy about the streetcars at all, the street is too narrow...I don't want to see no wires hanging over no bridge."
Next step: The NCPC is set to review the 11th Street bridge plan on Thursday.
10:34 am
its hilarious that people-who-get-paid-to-regulate-our-built-environment's best argument against street cars is that they will block monstrously ill-scaled, historically-incorrect, oppressive and wholistically non-urban "monuments". reminds me of the same fucking brilliant reasoning behind Fairfax co's opposition to the county's first winery, where the site in question now will be subdivided and sold to a developer.
this is why the rest of the world laughs at us.
2:58 am
The NCPC is woefully dated in their mentality. Plenty of cities (unfortunately) prettier than our own (albeit beautiful in its own right) city have overhead wires. Yet it is an affront to federal interests? Please