Passenger Trains > DC scraps plan to extend streetcar to Georgetown

https://wtop.com/dc-transit/2020/01/dc-streetcar-to-georgetown-is-dead/

Will instead focus on a modest eastward extension to the Benning Rd. Metro station.

Paul Wilson
Arlington, VA

An abomination from the get-go, but hey, it didn't cost DC residents anything, only the rest of us who will never see or ride it.

PRR1361 Wrote:
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> An abomination from the get-go, but hey, it didn't
> cost DC residents anything, only the rest of us
> who will never see or ride it.

Untrue. The DC government built the current H St / Benning Rd line solely with local revenues. The didn't even seek a federal "small starts" grant. It was felt it didn't have a prayer of meeting the standards for said grants.

And more broadly, perhaps the urban design fad of running latter-day "circulator-style" streetcars into the central business districts, mixed in traffic, has finally run its course.

Paul Wilson
Arlington, VA



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/23/20 13:26 by Dcmcrider.

Aren't some of the tracks of the former streetcar system still in place in Georgetown? A sad reminder of what once was and what could be.

colehour Wrote:
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> Aren't some of the tracks of the former streetcar
> system still in place in Georgetown? A sad
> reminder of what once was and what could be.

Yes, there are "remnants" of the conduit streetcar tracks on O and P Streets in Georgetown, west of Wisconsin Ave. A decade ago they were preserved by DDOT, at great expense, when DDOT tore up and meticulously relaid the cobblestones. Thank unyielding "historic preservationists" for that one. Pointless, in my view, and adds to a very rough ride. Adding insult to injury, P and O streets are on a bus line. Bumpy!

Once in a while, during the spring thaw, old streetcar tracks and conduit will show up in potholes around town. I call it the "Revenge of Capital Transit Company."

Paul Wilson
Arlington, VA



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/23/20 14:55 by Dcmcrider.

This is somehow very appropriate. Georgetown has been very anti Metro since it was started in the 1970s - it's only fitting they reap what they sow!

True dat!!

Bill Deaver
Tehachapi, CA

DevalDragon Wrote:
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> This is somehow very appropriate. Georgetown has
> been very anti Metro since it was started in the
> 1970s - it's only fitting they reap what they sow!


99 percent of the Georgetown locals could care less about a slow streetcar.