The Issue: The District Department of Transportation's plan to install a 37-mile streetcar system glaringly leaves Ward 3 out in the cold, without concrete plans for a streetcar to run up Wisconsin Avenue from Georgetown. “One of the reasons they didn’t proceed was lack in community support,” says Glover Park resident Ben Thielen and creator of the Wisconsin Avenue Streetcar Coalition. 

Streetcars for Stella!: “It’s a no-brainer to bring the streetcar up Wisconsin Avenue. It’s one of the most densely packed corridors in the city,” says Glover Park Advisory Neighborhood Commission commissioner Brian Cohen. The area lacks a nearby metro stop and residents often complain about the unreliable buses, Cohen says. The surrounding neighborhood is also one of six areas expected to face the largest population increase in the District over the next 30 years, according to city figures. If concrete plans aren’t laid down now, 10 to 20 years down the line, “whoever’s living in the neighborhood then is going to look back and say, how did they screw this up 20 years ago,” he adds.

Not worth the money: The capital cost of implementing streetcars in the 2030 plan–including tracks, street reconstruction, power systems and streetcars themselves–is $25.8 million per mile, according to DDOT. Some community members question the need and expense of a streetcar line down Wisconsin Avenue, as well as the impact on vehicular traffic, says area resident and trolley champion Andrew Aurbach.

What’s Next: Aurbach drafted a resolution calling for streetcars in Ward 3 that was presented before the local Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 3b in January. Ideally, the streetcar would run along Wisconsin Avenue to either Friendship Heights or Tenleytown and connecting down to Georgetown, he says. ANC3c similarly plans to consider the resolution this evening.

Photo by Oran Viriyincy, Creative Commons Attribution License

Yesterday, Fenty declared that the streets were 90 percent cleared. If they weren't, he tapped the Peaceoholics to jump in and give an assist on removing snow from bus stops, pesky side streets, etc. Fenty swears that your commute will have gone or will go smoothly today. He tells WaPo:

"After hundreds of plow crews spent the weekend scraping, scooping and hauling away snow, Fenty said Monday that the city has made significant progress in freeing snow-clogged streets

'We are down to pavement on virtually every residential street,' Fenty said."

Yesterday, Prince of Petworth walked through virtually all of Northwest. You can check out his findings via his Twitter account. Around the time Fenty was telling the press that 90 percent of the roads were clear including all the major routes, PoP reported:

"Just walked to gtown from petworth all roads a mess don't drive if u don't have too!"

And later:

"Wisconsin ave is particularly bad for cars"

And yet, deep in the WaPo piece, the reporters note that some on the D.C. Council wondered if Fenty should have reached out to the Feds. Councilmember Jim Graham recounted his conversation with the mayor. It's an eye-opener (emphasis added):

"Graham said when he asked Fenty about requesting resources from President Obama, the mayor replied, 'What would they have provided us?'

'I said, 'They could have provided soldiers from Fort Meyer,' 'Graham recalled. 'If it had been a riot, they would have.'"

Fenty wouldn't dare think of asking the feds for help. But he'll call on the Peaceoholics. Amazing. So how do you rate Fenty's snow-removal performance today?

Looks like their pleas have been answered: the Georgetown Metropolitan reported this week that Mayor Adrian M. Fenty has saved the Circulator from its Oct. 4 doomsday. Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans, who met with Mayor Fenty to reverse the decision, said: “The great outpouring of support from the DC Circulator ridership has once again ensured the continued service of this vital transportation option along the Wisconsin Avenue corridor.”

More information on the nail-biting rescue can be found at the blog, the Georgetown Voice.

According to DDOT spokesman John Lisle, this “difficult decision” stems from budget constraints: Although the upper leg carries 2 percent of the Georgetown Circulator’s riders, it is responsible for 15 percent of the overall cost.

After the service is discontinued,  Lisle says, Georgetown residents should make use of Metrobus' “enhanced and improved” 30 lines, which have “eliminated the need to layer additional Circulator service.” The DDOT is also looking into extending the 31 route downtown. The bus currently runs down Wisconsin Avenue but stops short at Foggy Bottom.

The Citizens Association of Georgetown is having a hard time seeing any "enhancement" about it; the group's members have argued that eliminating the upper Wisconsin Circulator route will leave only two buses, the 32 and the 36—half the number available two years ago when the 34 and the Circulator were also running. CAG also says that the two schools now served by the route (Hardy Middle School and the British School) require a transportation link, and traffic will increase after the opening of the newly renovated Safeway supermarket at 1855 Wisconsin Ave. The market's renovations include abolishing the "congested" parking lot, likely increasing the need for public transportation.

More potholes ahead...

We Need the Bus: Hazel Denton of the Citizens Association of Georgetown [CAG] says cutting the Circulator will leave upper Wisconsin residents high and dry: "Eighteen months ago, the mayor said they were going to enhance and streamline transportation, but [if the bus is cut] our service will have been halved in just two years. We feel outraged by this." Some want the Circulator service to extend even farther, to Glover Park.

No, You Don't: Take the 32 or the 36! Asked about the proposed cut, DDOT had no "official response" for now. But according to CAG, it comes down to budget constraints. Drew, commenting online earlier this year, also suggested that probable explanation: "I've never seen one with more than one or two riders. Just what we need, more riderless buses clogging the streets."

Next Step: If you want to keep the route, write the mayor or DDOT and complain. If you don't care, go back to surfing the web.

The Issue

Go Away, Giant!: Some residents have raised standard NIMBY concerns ranging from parking and traffic to noise and even the glare of a new neon Giant sign at night. The Wisconsin Newark Neighborhood Coalition has filed suit appealing the Zoning Commission's decision, with resident Ann Hamilton and others arguing that the commission doesn't have the authority to green-light a project that conflicts in scale with the current zoning designation, as they say the Giant one does.

Build the Giant, Already!: Pro-Giant residents say the project will revitalize an area that badly needs it, and that opponents are being obstructionist. Jeff Davis of the group Advocates of Wisconsin Avenue Renewal broke the news of the appeal to the listserv on Friday, writing: "I am disappointed that a small group of neighbors chose to delay a project that so many of us in the neighborhood support and to frustrate our efforts to put that divisive issue behind us."

Added resident Anjana: "Whatever happened to democracy and the voice of the majority? How can few that are in the minority decide to block what everyone else wants? Where is justice? Are we living in a third world country? I moved to this country because I thought every voice is heard but majority rules! There should be laws to throw this ridiculous/frivolous opposition overboard."

Next Step: Work at the Friendship Shopping Center site will now be delayed – again. Sharon Robinson, a consultant to the project, said the appeal, while not unexpected, "is subject to a judicial process that will likely take two years or more to complete." But Giant doesn't have plans to back down; it "remains committed to the project."

My duties have lagged in regard to keeping City Desk readers up to date on the played-out drama regarding the proposed Giant grocery complex on Wisconsin Avenue. And do you know why? Because this NIMBY crap has gone on with this project for 10 YEARS and no one gives a shit anymore.

Please, for the love of God and decent produce, just build the damn thing.

So what's the news? Misery has company. According to a telling but very unscientific poll prompted by Bill Adler, co-founder of the Cleveland Park Listserv, 77 percent of online voters (or 205 people), agree with me. Also-rans include 16 percent (44 votes) who still want to build it, but with conditions; the ANC wants a whole host of those, including a demand that there be no deliveries between 9 p.m. and 7 a.m., which seems rediculous for a) running a grocery store and b) running a grocery store in what is already a commercial corridor. Six percent (a whopping 16 votes) agreed with the poll's statement: "This isn't good for the neighborhood: I oppose the Giant's development proposal."

As for where the project stands, Greater Greater Washington has a good summary piece from a recent public meeting. Zoning hearings resume April 6 and could carry on for a night or two after that, so that every NIMBY who's had his say can continue to talk.

Photograph of the current Giant on Wisconsin Avenue by me