Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Streetcar Meeting 12/6

DC Streetcar Front by Mr. T in DC
DC Streetcar Front, a photo by Mr. T in DC on Flickr
Tuesday, Dec. 6 at 7pm, Mayor Vincent Gray and DDOT Director Terry Bellamy will participate in a public meeting at the Atlas (1333 H Street) to update the community on streetcar progress. Don't miss out on the latest news. Read more on Streetcars for DC.

21 comments:

ro said...

well this should be interesting. definitely won't miss this one

Anonymous said...

I'm just grateful the construction has ended!!!!

Tom A. said...

Put train on track. Drive train back and forth on H Street. Rejoice!

Need for "planning" meetings- abolished!

dave b said...

of more immediate concern, where is the capital bikeshare station that has been "planned" for over a year, then was supposed to be installed in the summer, then fall, then mid november according bikeshare news release?

don't bother asking bikeshare for answers? they dont have any

Anonymous said...

I am sure they are going to announce that the train will stop at 8th street instead of ending on the bridge. By the time the trains will be on the track, the last stop might be at hechinger mall.
A TRAIN THAT DOES NOT GO INTO UNION STATION IS USELESS.

ro said...

anon 10:08: you're not that far off base. i'll keep my mouth shut for now because what i've heard is still hearsay but i'm definitely curious to see what Gray's spin is going to be next week

charles said...

I'll be surprised if this streetcar ever runs.

oboe said...

I'll be surprised if this streetcar ever runs.

Funny, I'm in the opposite camp. I think the writing's on the wall. We won't keep electing "Grays" forever.

Two steps forward, one step back.

Chris said...

oboe -- I so wish I agreed with you. But this is DC, and I have absolute confidence in the District government's ability to screw anything up.

E in Rosedale said...

This has been a painful process, and I don't think Gray's team has done themselves any favors getting it across the finish line. That said, just getting the damn cars running would be a huge momentum boost for the rest of the system. I personally can't see a scenario where it doesn't expand incrementally, however long it takes.

Anonymous said...

we can't build shit in this country anymore. we suck.

Anonymous said...

In fairness to Gray, he got this disaster dumped on him.
East end? Oh, of course the feds are going to give us that $57 million grant to go across the River. Wrong.
West end? Amtrak is going to be thrilled to connect to DC's hot new transit option. Wrong.
The guys who "planned" this disaster made assumptions that were just that - assumptions. They were not based in reality. The grant was denied. Amtrak preferred to keep its options open for the possibility of high-speed rail. H Street is stuck with the Streetcar to Nowhere.
This was no way to run a railroad - or a transit system. Fenty, Klein, and Kubly are gone, but Gray and the taxpayers are stuck with their mess.

Anonymous said...

Oh come on. The Gray team didn't bother to follow up with Amtrak. The mayor didn't even bother to appoint someone in change at DDOT for months.

Anonymous said...

Building a street car was a terrible idea. It's just a bus that's less maneuverable. Should have build a metro line.

Anonymous said...

A Metro line would have been many, many times more expensive. Street cars carry many more times the number of passengers than a bus. Ever rode one?

H Street Landlord said...

Personally I'm excited about this meeting. I doubt they would call it unless they have some juicy updates.

Dave B said...

I hear they are putting up a chain link fence between the crowd and Gray like the one the Blues Brothers play behind in that one bar with people just throwing beer bottles at them. Bring your own bottles

oboe said...

@ro:

i'll keep my mouth shut for now because what i've heard is still hearsay

The anonymous comments thread on a hyper-local blog is NO PLACE FOR HEARSAY AND SPECULATION!!

;)

oboe said...

@Chris,

oboe -- I so wish I agreed with you. But this is DC, and I have absolute confidence in the District government's ability to screw anything up.

Call me a hopeless romantic, but if you look at DC's demographics and the population trends that are going to be pushing more middle-class residents into the cities, I think eventually our political leadership will begin to improve.

(I realize that's a controversial position, but DC's political class for the last four decades has been maximizing new job creation for unskilled residents. That's likely to increasingly be a thing of the past). DC's political dynamics are likely to become a lot more like NYC, Portland, Chicago, or any other diverse, functional urban center.

That's my guess, at least. If not, we'll have bigger things to worry about than whether the streetcar is running.

East_H said...

Gray needs a big win. I doubt he would be here if it were bad news.

Anonymous said...

I agree with East_H it will either be no news or good news. Politicians don't hold meetings to highlight bad news. It's either just a move to placate people and pretend to care about the issue or there is a long shot chance he may actually have something good to share in terms of plans for progress. I'm betting on the former though.