Wednesday, January 25, 2006
Roll Call: Streetcars on H Street
Roll Call has a nice piece on the streetcar tracks coming to H Street. The streetcar tracks are a huge step towards not only getting the streetcars running on H Street, but also towards showing potential business owners that the city & community are serious about making the H Street Corridor & truly amazing place to call home. But this is only one more step in the right direction. The article quotes Karina Ricks (Great Streats) as saying: “Suffice to say that the community strategy is they’ve advocated just for tracks, but they know full well that once the tracks are there, they’re going to advocate for service[.]” So, the deal is not yet sealed, & we still won't be seeing any streetcars cruising down H Street anytime soon. But hey, this remains a very exciting development. Just to reassure you of the progress, here's the other half of Ricks' quote: “And we know that [the community will advocate for service], so we’re already starting work” on such necessary auxiliaries as maintenance services and turnarounds for the cars.
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Could you please post the article? It looks like you need an account to view the article. Thanks.
you can always get a login at www.bugmenot.com for sites like that. Saves a lot of time.
by the way, I love this blog! Keep it up!
Agreement Lays the Tracks for Streetcars on H Street
January 25, 2006
By Tom Gottlieb,
Roll Call Staff
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The H Street Northeast corridor is, according to Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Joseph Fengler, on a seven-step plan toward recovery. Recovery, that is, from economic stagnation.
And this week, the District of Columbia and H Street officials completed the fourth step on that path, when the D.C. Department of Transportation announced it would have streetcar tracks installed along the once-vibrant corridor by the beginning of next year.
The streetcar would run from the Minnesota Avenue Metro station to near Union Station, according to DDOT plans — a 3.5-mile stretch of track that would run mostly along H Street Northeast.
According to preliminary H Street poster plans, there will be two lanes of streetcars sandwiched by four lanes of traffic.
The tracks will be coordinated with the H Street Streetscape initiative, according to Karina Ricks, coordinator of the Great Streets Project for DDOT.
“The streetscape start date is a little later than we originally planned, mostly because of the request of the community,” Ricks said. “They wanted streetcar tracks included at this phase and said they preferred to put the streetcar tracks in now, even if we’re not going to run the cars now. That’s drawing out the design timeline a little longer, but they are satisfied.”
DDOT had already stated a desire for streetcars along the H Street Northeast corridor after conducting studies over the past two years as to the effectiveness of tracks in that location. The initial plan was to install the tracks after a similar project, already in the works, was completed along the Anacostia waterfront.
According to Fengler — a commissioner for ANC 6A, which includes the H Street corridor — coordinating the streetcars and streetscaping came down to simple logic: Measure once and cut twice.
“The Great Streets initiative is providing funds for the project, and our comment was if they already came to the collective decision that a streetcar is necessary, why do the streetscape initiative and then come back two or three years later and tear it up again?” Fengler said.
The streetcar now becomes a part of the H Street Streetscape initiative, an ambitious project in which the city is investing $20 million to $23 million to do everything from repave sidewalks and replace streetlamps to, now, install streetcar tracks.
“This tells the business community that the city is serious, and if we develop properties ... people will be able to get there easier,” Fengler said. “If the city is making significant investments, businesses will follow.”
The streetcar tracks will have positive reverberations on many fronts, Fengler said — not the least of which is the human traffic the corridor hopes to attract to its businesses.
“H Street is a mile-and-a-quarter long, the corridor that the city is revitalizing. And people typically don’t walk more than a quarter-mile,” Fengler said. “To have an efficient and safe way of getting from one end to the other will encourage people to get out and see H Street.”
Fengler was also excited about the project’s ability to link two different communities previously divided, with Capitol Hill and the area east of the Anacostia River finally being connected by a “safe and visible means of transportation.”
Streetcars in Northeast D.C. are nothing new. Previously, streetcars ran through Capitol Hill until 1962. And although the streetcars might not be up and running right away once the tracks are installed, Ricks said she expects a similar neighborhood push for a swift installation of the cars.
“Suffice to say that the community strategy is they’ve advocated just for tracks, but they know full well that once the tracks are there, they’re going to advocate for service,” Ricks said. “And we know that, so we’re already starting work” on such necessary auxiliaries as maintenance services and turnarounds for the cars.
As for steps five through seven in the program to fully revitalize the corridor — and any subsequent measures to aid in the rebuilding effort — Fengler said all that remains for now is to repave and beautify H Street, get the streetcars fully operational and get the residential properties up and running.
As for the business end of the corridor, Fengler said it is going to have no choice but to keep pace.
“There will be thousands of new residents, and there are people who have lived here for 25, 30 years who have been clamoring for these services,” Fengler said. “Businesses will take notice, because it will be in their economic interest to do so.
“It’s going to be better than Barracks Row, when we’re done. It’s really going to be amazing.”
Copyright 2006 © Roll Call Inc. All rights reserved.
I can't post the full text of the article w/out violating copyright (unless I were to request reprint permission, but that can take a while). The article didn't have much new info (so if you've been reading the listserv stuff, or what I've posted here, you aren't missing anything).
How can the H Street portion of the streetcar line have two lanes of street cars and four lanes of cars? There are six total lanes including two for parking. Are they getting rid of parking? Shrinking the sidewalks?
Cars will drive in 4 lanes & the street cars will share one lane in each direction with the automobile traffic.
People ride the subway to avoid the traffic that is unavoidable when riding the bus. Streetcars only make much sense if they do not share the same lane with other traffic. I fail to see how streetcars sharing the same lane with cars will get to Union Station any faster than a bus. The idea is great, it just needs to implemented with the goal of getting from Minn. Ave to Union Station in fastest amount of time. I know everyone says a subway cost too much but how much does it cost really and how must does this project cost?
Are you saying bus rides can't be scenic?
Trams are very big and heavy and that gives people incentive to get out of their way. In Europe, they share traffic lanes w/ cars but man if you hold them up, they lean on the bell.
Baltimore has street cars and they work very,very well there. This is really great for everyone in our community.
They share the road in San Fran and work great as well. A subway will only help rebuid a shopping district around the station. A streetcar lets the riders see all the great new restaurants, theaters, and bars as they go past. See somewhere you want to check out and just hop off. I think psychologically people prefer them to buses because a track and a platform feel permanent with routine stops. You never know when or if that bus will get there.
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