Little Dissent During Community Streetcar Meeting, But No Answer For Wires
Think of the possibilities!
Alex Baca reporting from Trinidad:
Yesterday evening, Wheatley Elementary’s gymnasium played host to community members, ANC commissioners, transit aficionados, and city councilmembers for an update on DDOT’s progress to date on the long-awaited streetcars. A few more details emerged (Greater Greater Washington has the rundown) but on the most contentious issue—overhead wires—DDOT officials could offer little in the way of resolution.
According to Director Gabe Klein, DDOT has almost completed its analysis plan of alternative propulsion systems, which would determine the viability of going without wires. And Associate Director Scott Kubly admitted there was a need to come to a compromise, promising that DDOT was committed to operating with or without them. But the audience was not pleased with the lack of a concrete solution, and Kubly shied away from stating the type of system—all-wired, underground-wired, or a combination of the two—the District was likely to see. With the exception of one question (Kubly suggested the staunch preservationist “write his representative”), there was little evidence of much anti-wire sentiment.
A few audience members grumbled over DDOT’s timeframes for construction, which have shifted from 2011 to 2012, and the lack of compensation for H Street establishments that have lost revenue due to construction. Kubly brushed off a mention of a tax abatement—in the vein of the $25 million offered to entice Northrop-Grumman to the District—saying only that “the idea is to stage the construction to minimize the destruction that the community sees.”
As I headed back to the 90 bus stop on H and 8th Streets—one of the few close, current transit options for the H Street Corridor—a lifetime District resident and self-described "neighborhood legend" named Tyrone stopped me to chat about the meeting. He said he remembered riding the original streetcar system in the late 1950’s and early 60’s, and asked me where the route would run when construction was complete.
9:58 am
Alex: It's not quite accurate to say that "the audience was not pleased with the lack of a concrete solution," and then say that "there was little evidence of much anti-wire sentiment."
There were a couple people who were not pleased with the lack of a concrete solution, and those people were there representing the Cmte of 100. They got up and left without staying to hear the rest of the questions when they realized that they couldn't get a argument started up between the assembled audience and the presenters.
10:59 am
I could have worded that better—I think that what I was trying to convey was that the Committee of 100 presence and anything like-minded was minimal. However, there was a sense that people really wanted to know what kind of streetcar system they'd be seeing. I don't think that was negative; anyone that I spoke to afterward seemed excited for the streetcar, but did want an answer on whether it would be wireless, wired, and/or what a combination of the two would look like.
4:14 pm
It amazes me how some groups lose sight (or perhaps simply don't care) about the potential positive economic development behind these sorts of transportation improvements. Why does this "Committee of 100" seem to act like it represents everyone and can drive the discourse? Heck, I wonder if many of the members of this interest group even live in the crappy neighborhoods where these things are proposed (H Street corridor, Anacostia, etc).
Seriously, who is this "Committee of 100", and don't they have affordable housing projects in their own neighborhoods they can fight?
8:41 am
After my last trip to DC, we just gave up. Outside of the Metro, the transit system doesn't really work. The streets are always locked up. I like walking, but in DC the distances can be huge and crossing the streets is a terror.
Having just visited Portland, I know what a city with a civilized on street transit system looks like.
I've been to national capitals with good transit systems, but DC isn't one of them. On our last trip with a big middle school group, we ended up locked out of the Capital by another terrorist alert. It took over an hour to push the bus through a few dozen blocks of traffic. I would have just walked but that isn't how school bus tours work.
It's pity the nation's capital isn't a very pleasant place to visit. DC needs to start getting the cars off the street.