A look at what's going on in Trinidad, on H Street, and in the larger area north of Capitol Hill.
Friday, March 20, 2009
Wash Times: Tracks in 45 Days?
The Washington Times recently ran an article on the return of streetcars to DC. The author quotes a DDOT public information officer as saying the agency plans to start laying tracks in 45 days (the article was published March 15th).
17 comments:
Anonymous
said...
They've been talking about this street car coming to H St for far too long. I'll believe it when I see it.
Those tracks are for the Anacostia Line. The H Street tracks will be laid as part of the on going Street Scape project which is supposed to be finished in two years...
Those tracks may be for the Anacostia line. It's ambiguous the way the quote is placed. But I think it could refer to the H Street line. The "road work" sounds like it refers to the streetscape project.
Any idea whether we can call WASA to press them to urge them to approve H St CC's permit? According to City Paper, WASA says it will take them 8 weeks to get around to it.
Anon, Katy et al, Please be aware that there is a HUGE H Street reconstruction project going on for the next several years. Electric, sewer, tracks, drainage, sidewalks, lighting, etc etc.
I hope people don't ask these questions every few weeks for the next few years. :-)
Maybe Inked can post the plans on the sidebar, if she hasn't already!
I like that version of streetcar history from the Washington Times: so-called competition with taxis and motorized buses killed streetcars, not lobbying by the auto industry and a short-sighted Congress. Oh well, at least they're writing about DC's efforts to get back to where we were nearly fifty years ago.
In the mean time, Ward 5 City Council member Harry Thomas has introduced legislation to encourage the construction and retention of gas stations by giving them tax breaks. I quess that he hasn't gotten the memo, that gas stations these day are really in the business of selling beer, soda & chips, rather than gasoline, or any car service.
i keep forgetting to mention that i noticed the family dollar was closed a few days ago. thursday, i believe, was when i noticed. walked by again friday and saw it was still closed. two other folks walking by said it was closed because of some type of health violation? the pink notice in the door appeared to correlate with that story, although details were scarce.
also, i peeked in rita's and there has been no interior construction yet (counters and stuff), making me worried about a start date any time soon. maybe they will be open for summer?
the music store next to it has been closed for time (the one that used to blast music out into the street to attract customers...my funniest experience there is i walked in one day to buy a cd and was quoted one price in my work clothes (business casual) and a cheaper price the next day when i came in wearing street clothes...gotta love class discrimination?).
"The second phase of the project is part of the $65 million, three-year reconstruction of H Street and Benning Road Northeast, which has already begun. Officials plan to begin laying tracks in 45 days while doing the road work, Mr. Lisle said."
In context, it does sound like they're referring to H Street. Guess we'll see over the next few weeks.
Family Dollar 1121 H St. NE Food service closed Friday for operating without a license, a sewage backup and operation without a certified food manager on duty.
I noticed a couple of weeks ago that the National Wholesalers by the Safeway is closed up and empty. I went there to get some things only to find it empty.
Not to pile on with bad news, but the Black Supermarket is closed too because Walter got a foreclosure notice on the building. He is trying to work something out where someone would buy the building and rent the store space to him. He said the city took way too long to let him reopen after he rebuilt from a fire and he couldn't recover from the lost revenue.
I know I'm late to this discussion but why are we spending money on a street car line when there is already an existing bus line? I've seen the streets after they build these things and they are hell on drivers who already use these roads.
17 comments:
They've been talking about this street car coming to H St for far too long. I'll believe it when I see it.
Those tracks are for the Anacostia Line. The H Street tracks will be laid as part of the on going Street Scape project which is supposed to be finished in two years...
Those tracks may be for the Anacostia line. It's ambiguous the way the quote is placed. But I think it could refer to the H Street line. The "road work" sounds like it refers to the streetscape project.
Any idea whether we can call WASA to press them to urge them to approve H St CC's permit? According to City Paper, WASA says it will take them 8 weeks to get around to it.
Anyone know specifically what all the H St. construction has been about the last several weeks.
@Anon 2:54- I believe the current road crew on H is working on a natural gas pipeline. (I read that on a sign on some of their roadblocks.)
Anon, Katy et al, Please be aware that there is a HUGE H Street reconstruction project going on for the next several years. Electric, sewer, tracks, drainage, sidewalks, lighting, etc etc.
I hope people don't ask these questions every few weeks for the next few years. :-)
Maybe Inked can post the plans on the sidebar, if she hasn't already!
I like that version of streetcar history from the Washington Times: so-called competition with taxis and motorized buses killed streetcars, not lobbying by the auto industry and a short-sighted Congress. Oh well, at least they're writing about DC's efforts to get back to where we were nearly fifty years ago.
In the mean time, Ward 5 City Council member Harry Thomas has introduced legislation to encourage the construction and retention of gas stations by giving them tax breaks. I quess that he hasn't gotten the memo, that gas stations these day are really in the business of selling beer, soda & chips, rather than gasoline, or any car service.
i keep forgetting to mention that i noticed the family dollar was closed a few days ago. thursday, i believe, was when i noticed. walked by again friday and saw it was still closed. two other folks walking by said it was closed because of some type of health violation? the pink notice in the door appeared to correlate with that story, although details were scarce.
anyone know the deal?
are they gone for good?
also, i peeked in rita's and there has been no interior construction yet (counters and stuff), making me worried about a start date any time soon. maybe they will be open for summer?
the music store next to it has been closed for time (the one that used to blast music out into the street to attract customers...my funniest experience there is i walked in one day to buy a cd and was quoted one price in my work clothes (business casual) and a cheaper price the next day when i came in wearing street clothes...gotta love class discrimination?).
"The second phase of the project is part of the $65 million, three-year reconstruction of H Street and Benning Road Northeast, which has already begun. Officials plan to begin laying tracks in 45 days while doing the road work, Mr. Lisle said."
In context, it does sound like they're referring to H Street. Guess we'll see over the next few weeks.
Family Dollar
1121 H St. NE
Food service closed Friday for operating without a license, a sewage backup and operation without a certified food manager on duty.
I noticed a couple of weeks ago that the National Wholesalers by the Safeway is closed up and empty. I went there to get some things only to find it empty.
Not to pile on with bad news, but the Black Supermarket is closed too because Walter got a foreclosure notice on the building. He is trying to work something out where someone would buy the building and rent the store space to him. He said the city took way too long to let him reopen after he rebuilt from a fire and he couldn't recover from the lost revenue.
I know I'm late to this discussion but why are we spending money on a street car line when there is already an existing bus line? I've seen the streets after they build these things and they are hell on drivers who already use these roads.
@anonymous 3:12p: see this page for one opinion of why street cars are a good addition to DC.
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