39 replies to this topic

[CNJRoss]

DC Safe Rail, a coalition of residents fighting the CSX Virginia Ave. tunnel project.

[KevinKorell]

Washington, DC Post, 9/11/14:

Is fight over CSX tunnel project headed to court?

A D.C. group says it will make one last shot — asking politely via a letter — at an indefinite delay of the Virginia Avenue Tunnel project. Failing that, the group says it will go to court to block the proposed reconstruction of the rail tunnel in Southeast Washington.

The latest

[CNJRoss]

The Washington Post, 11/5:

CSX gets federal agency’s clearance to rebuild aging rail tunnel in Southeast D.C.

The Federal Highway Administration has given CSX Transportation clearance to rebuild an aging rail tunnel in Southeast Washington.

After a series of delays— and raucous opposition from neighbors — the federal agency signed a Record of Decision on Tuesday supporting the reconstruction and expansion of the Virginia Avenue Tunnel, a critical piece of infrastructure in the Washington region’s rail system.

CSX Transportation can now move into the local permitting phase, followed by what could be about 31 / 2 years of construction. Although it must obtain permits from the city to move forward, there is every indication that the process will go smoothly. Even before completion of the mandated National Environmental Policy Act review, the D.C. Department of Transportation agreed to let CSX take over the roads near the tunnel for the project. Crews could start securing the site as early as this fall, officials said.

Continue here.

[KevinKorell]

DCist, 11/12/14:

Committee Of 100 Files Suit To Stop CSX Virginia Avenue Tunnel In Its Tracks

The D.C. organization devoted to upholding L'Enfant's plan filed suit in federal court today over the possible expansion of a CSX rail tunnel along Virginia Avenue.

Article continues

[CNJRoss]

The Washington Post, 11/12:

Fight over Virginia Avenue tunnel project headed to court

A D.C. group plans to file a lawsuit Wednesday challenging the Federal Highway Administration’s decision to approve plans to reconstruct a 110-year-old rail tunnel in Southeast Washington.

The Committee of 100 on the Federal City is trying to block CSX Transportation’s plan to rebuild the Virginia Avenue Tunnel, a critical piece of the region’s rail infrastructure.

After a three-year federal environmental review process, the FHWA last week gave CSX clearance to move forward with the $170-million project that calls for two new, twin tunnels built to allow for double-stacked trains.

The Committee of 100, which serves as a watchdog on transportation issues, questions the legality and transparency of the project’s federal environmental review process and says there were violations of federal and D.C. law during the process of studying building alternatives for aging tunnel.

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[CNJRoss]

The Washington Post, 2/16:

 

As CSX starts work on Virginia Ave. tunnel, opponents ask court to stop it in its tracks

The controversial Virginia Avenue Tunnel project in Southeast Washington is getting its day in court Tuesday.

 

A District Court judge is expected to hear a petition for a preliminary injunction that would halt construction of the $170 million project, at least until the court reviews and rules on a lawsuit challenging the Federal Highway Administration’s decision to approve plans to reconstruct the 110-year-old rail tunnel.

 

The hearing comes as CSX Transportation embarks on site preparation for the reconstruction and expansion project that received federal clearance last year.

 

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[CNJRoss]

The Washington Post "Dr. Gridlock Blog," 4/7:
 

Judge denies petition to halt Virginia Avenue tunnel project in SE D.C.

 

A District Court judge has denied a petition to stop the reconstruction of the Virginia Avenue tunnel in Southeast Washington.

 

Judge Christopher R. Cooper’s decision validates CSX Transportation’s claims that rebuilding the 111-year-old tunnel is in the best interest of the public. The company has clearance to proceed with construction. 

 

SNIP 

 

In his decision, Cooper said the Committee failed to establish grounds for a preliminary injunction.

 

    The Court concludes the balance of the equities tips decidedly in the Defendants’ favor, and particularly towards the public interest. As discussed above, the Committee’s contentions that a new tunnel will lead to more accidents and a greater risk of terrorist attack are speculative at best. And with the exception of the removal of some 200 trees, the Committee has not established that any environmental effects of the construction activity will be severe or irreparable.   .   .   .

 

 

Read more here.

[CNJRoss]

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA  Opinion (.pdf):

 

MEMORANDUM OPINION

 

The nation’s transportation infrastructure, especially in its cities, is rapidly deteriorating. But making the necessary improvements can be disruptive and harmful to the environment if not done properly. It thus falls to government to shepherd the modernization of our roads, bridges, and tunnels without unduly diminishing the quality of life and well-being of affected residents. The tension between these often competing aims is what animates this case.

 

At issue is the Virginia Avenue Tunnel (“VAT”), a 111-year-old rail tunnel that runs for approximately nine blocks under the Capitol Hill neighborhood in the center of Washington, D.C. The tunnel is an integral link in a rail network that serves the mid-Atlantic and mid-western United States. Yet due to its age, the tunnel is ill-equipped to accommodate 21st century freight traffic: It is too narrow for two parallel tracks; it is not high enough for trains carrying modern, double-stacked shipping containers; it floods often and requires frequent repairs; and its earthen foundation requires trains to travel well below their normal speeds. These deficiencies have combined to make the tunnel, in the opinion of a coalition of Washington-area government leaders, “one of the most significant freight bottlenecks on the East Coast.” Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, Transportation Improvement Program for the Metropolitan

 

Washington Region: FY 2013-2018, at D-1 (2012). And because passenger trains pass just to the west of the tunnel to access Washington’s Union Station, the bottleneck causes passenger rail delays as well.

 

CSX Transportation, Inc. (“CSXT”), which owns the Virginia Avenue Tunnel and much of the associated rail network, would like to renovate and expand the capacity of the tunnel as part of a regional railway improvement program. The tunnel renovation project has been almost five years in the making, and CSXT estimates that construction will take 30 to 42 months to complete. The federal government, the District of Columbia government, AMTRAK, and a range of regional government representatives support reconstruction of the tunnel.

 

The same cannot be said of the Committee of 100 on the Federal City (the “Committee”), a non-profit organization dedicated to urban planning and historic preservation in the Washington, D.C. area. Part of the Committee’s opposition to the reconstruction undoubtedly stems from broader concerns over CSXT’s movement of hazardous materials through Washington, D.C., so close to our halls of government and national monuments, which has been a topic of much public debate and litigation in recent years. In 2005, the District of Columbia City Council passed an act that would have forbidden the rail shipment of “explosives, flammable gases, poisonous gases and other poisonous materials” within 2.2 miles of the United States Capitol Building. CSX Transp. v. Williams, 406 F.3d 667, 669 (D.C. Cir. 2005). CSXT successfully challenged the act on the ground that it was pre-empted by federal law. Id. at 673. CSXT did, however, voluntarily agree not to ship certain hazardous materials through the District. While relevant to this case in certain respects, neither the wisdom nor legality of that practice is before the Court. 2

 

The focus of the Committee’s suit here is more limited. It contends the District of Columbia Department of Transportation (“DDOT”) and the United States Department of Transportation, through the Federal Highway Administration (“FHWA”), violated the National Environmental Policy Act in numerous respects by failing adequately to assess the potential environmental harms of the proposed reconstruction. The agencies’ environmental review and resulting final Environmental Impact Statement were deficient, the Committee alleges, because they improperly committed themselves to the project before completing the review, understated or ignored potential environment risks, and failed to consider in detail alternatives to the chosen project that called for rerouting trains around the city.

 

Before the Court is an application by the Committee for a preliminary injunction prohibiting DDOT from issuing the necessary permits for reconstruction of the tunnel to begin. The bar for obtaining a preliminary injunction pending resolution of a suit on the merits is high, and the Court concludes that it has not been cleared here. On the record before the Court, the Committee has not established that its suit is likely to succeed on the merits. Nor has it shown that the potential environmental harm of reconstruction outweighs the public benefit from modernizing the tunnel. The Court will, accordingly, deny the Committee’s application.

Complete opinion at link above.

[CNJRoss]

The Washington Post, 5/5/15:
 

D.C. group files another motion to halt CSX tunnel project

 

The Committee of 100 on the Federal City is appealing a District Court decision that denied its request to block reconstruction of the Virginia Avenue tunnel in Southeast Washington.

 

The group, which serves as a watchdog on transportation issues, is seeking a halt to the project before “irreversible construction activities” such as tree removal take place.

 

Last month, District Court Judge Christopher R. Cooper ruled that rebuilding the 111-year-old tunnel is in the best interest of the public, and said that the Committee failed to establish grounds for a preliminary injunction.

 

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[CNJRoss]

The Hill is Home, 5/12:

 

Virginia Avenue Park Closures For CSX VA Avenue Project Starting This Week

 

The green line indicates where the fence will run through the park

 

As part of the Virginia Avenue Project, CSX will have to close off a large portion of the Virginia Avenue Park while they relocate utilities and expand the train tunnel that runs underneath Virginia Avenue.

 

The community garden was spared, but the large fenced in area that has been used by local dog owners will remain closed for the duration of the tunnel project.

 

While this has never been an official dog park, the city has looked the other way, which has been quite welcome to dog owners looking for a large space to let their dogs run off-leash. Capital Canines did get an application approved to have this park turned into an official dog park, but progress seemed to have stalled, and will certainly remain that way until the CSX construction is complete.

 

In a recent email to the community, CSX stated:

Access to the portion of the park being fenced will be restricted through the duration of the tunnel project. CSX apologizes for any inconveniences that these restrictions may create. Access will be restored and enhancements will be made to the park at the completion of the tunnel-construction project.

 

The community garden and the area adjacent to it at the corner of 9th St. and Potomac Avenue, S.E. will continue to be accessible to neighbors throughout the duration of the project.

 

Alternative recreation areas in the neighborhood include Garfield Park, at Virginia Avenue and 3rd Streets, S.E.; Washington Canal Park, along 2nd Street between M and I Streets, S.E.; the baseball diamond at 11th and I Streets, S.E.; Yards Park, at 4th and Water Streets, S.E.; and the Anacostia Riverwalk Trail.

 

 

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