28 replies to this topic

[CNJRoss]

DC Streetcar news release:

 

Environmental Assessment Meeting Scheduled for Union Station to Georgetown Streetcar Transportation Improvements

Posted on April 22, 2016

 

(Washington, DC) The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) along with The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) invite the community to a public meeting Tuesday, May 17, 2016, to discuss an upcoming Environmental Assessment (EA) for the proposed Union Station to Georgetown Streetcar Transportation Improvements.

 

Following the successful launch of the DC Streetcar on February 27, 2016, this EA process considers alternative approaches to extending the existing line from Union Station to Georgetown. The study will evaluate the environmental and cultural effects of the proposed improvements.

 

The study is being conducted in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) and Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (NHPA), and will be released by DDOT, FHWA, and FTA in the winter of 2017.

 

WHAT:             Union Station to Georgetown Streetcar Public Meeting 

 

WHEN:            Thursday, May 17, 2016, 6 pm – 8 pm; Presentation at 6:30 pm

  

WHERE:          Carnegie Library at Mt. Vernon Square, 1st Floor, 801 K Street, NW

 

TRANSIT:        Circulator: Union Station to Georgetown Line (Massachusetts and 7th Street Stop)  

                                   Metrorail: Gallery Place Station or Mt. Vernon Square Station

                                   Metrobus: Visit wmata.com

 

For more information, please visit unionstationtogeorgetown.com.

  

Getting to the Meetings

Be sure to check out www.goDCgo.com to learn about transportation options for getting to the meeting. 

 

Can’t Make a Meeting?

Materials from this meeting will be made available on the DDOT website at the meeting’s conclusion.

 

Do you need assistance to participate?

If you need special accommodations or language assistance services (translation or interpretation), please contact Jamie Henson at (202) 671-1324 or jamie.henson@dc.gov by May 10, 2016. These services will be provided free of charge.     

 

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[CNJRoss]

DC Streetcar, 5/3:

 

 

DC Streetcar News/Updates

Join us as the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) along with The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and/or the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) will host two public meetings to discuss two extensions of the DC Streetcar system wide program.
 

Union Station to Georgetown EA Meeting

On Tuesday, May 17, you are invited to discuss the upcoming Environmental Assessment (EA) for the proposed Union Station to Georgetown (USGT) Streetcar Transportation Improvements.

The EA process considers alternative approaches to extending the existing line from Union Station to Georgetown. The study will evaluate the environmental and cultural effects of the proposed improvements.

WHAT:            Union Station to Georgetown Streetcar Public Meeting 
WHEN:           Thursday, May 17, 2016
                       6 pm – 8 pm; Presentation at 6:30 pm
WHERE:         Carnegie Library at Mt. Vernon Square
                       801 K Street NW, 1st Floor

For more information, please visit our website or the project website.
 

Benning Road EA Public Hearing

On Thursday, May 19, you are invited to a public hearing on the Benning Road and Bridges Transportation Improvements Environmental Assessment (EA).

The EA process considers alternative approaches to extending the existing line from Oklahoma Avenue NE to Benning Road Metro Station. The study will evaluate the environmental and cultural effects of the proposed improvements.

WHAT:            Benning Road & Bridges Transportation Improvements  Public Hearing
WHEN:           Thursday, May 19, 2016
                       6 pm – 8 pm
WHERE:         Department of Employment Services (DOES)
                       4058 Minnesota Avenue, NE

There will be an open house and a brief overview presentation; thereafter, participants will have the opportunity to provide written or oral comments.

If you wish to testify, email info@benningproject.com to sign-up in advance. You can also sign-up on the day of the hearing, but no later than 8:00 pm, by completing a comment card at the sign-in table.

EA public comments will be accepted until 5 pm June 2, 2016.

For more information, please visit our website or the project website

 

[Sloan]

I would hope that the proposed streetcar would run to Georgetown University campus.  That would be a major trip generator.  The very wealthy homeowners who live in beautifully restored 18th and early 19th century houses may kick up a fuss at the prospect of streetcars bringing hoi-polloi to their exclusive enclaves.  

 

Back in the DC Transit days, PCC cars ran up narrow cobblestoned O Street to reach the campus before heading off onto private right-of-way to Glen Echo amusement park.  The line was an engineering marvel hugging palisades overlooking the Potomac River.  Congress, which ran DC government in those days, lost a major transit corridor and a tourist attraction by ordering DC Transit to abandon the line.

 

Sloan

[KevinKorell]

Safe to say that the whole Georgetown could be a major trip generator, as it has been transit-starved without being directly served by Metro rail. I think the main drag is M Street, so if the line runs along K Street it's only 2 blocks away.

[Sloan]

O Scale Trolley Modelers provides this historic photo of DC Transit in Georgetown, pulling its plow and raising its trolley poll for the run up Wisconsin Ave. in Georgetown.  Sloan

 

 

 

 

[Sloan]

 

 

Planners eye extension of streetcar line to connect Union Station to Georgetown

 

The District is considering extending its new streetcar line about  3 1/2 miles from Union Station to Georgetown, and planners are looking at two ways to make it happen.

http://wtop.com/dc/2...getown/slide/1/

[CNJRoss]

WTOP radio, 5/25:
 

Officials look at new ways to power DC streetcars

 

WASHINGTON — As the District considers extending its streetcar system from Union Station to Georgetown, city planners are also looking at new ways to power the cars.

 

Streetcars running on the H Street/Benning Road Line get their power from overhead wires, but for the proposed extension, DDOT project manager Jamie Henson says they’re looking at different options.

 

“We’ve talked a lot about propulsion, and advancing a propulsion approach that will limit visual intrusions,” Henson said.

 

Continue here.

[KevinKorell]

Come on, already. Overhead wires are part of the allure of streetcars.   They can't use third rail in the middle of the street. And if they are going to regress to battery power then they might as well just have trolley-shaped buses running on the asphalt streets without tracks. And to extend what is now an existing line with another technology will render the starter line useless. Passengers won't tolerate multiple vehicle rides or a delay incurred chaning modes en route.  Trying to do this on the super cheap is going to bite the planners in the end.

[CNJRoss]

DC Streetcar 11/1:

 

 

DC Streetcar News/Updates

Union Station to Georgetown EA Meeting

 

 

On Thursday, November 17, you are invited to discuss the upcoming Environmental Assessment (EA) for the proposed Union Station to Georgetown (USGT) Streetcar Transportation Improvements.

The EA process considers alternative approaches to extending the existing line from Union Station to Georgetown. The study will evaluate the environmental and cultural effects of the proposed improvements.

WHAT:            Union Station to Georgetown Streetcar Environmental Assessment (EA) Meeting 
WHEN:           Thursday, November 17, 2016
                       6 pm – 8 pm; Presentation at 6:30 pm
WHERE:         Pinstripes at Georgetown Park, Ballroom A/B
                       1064 Wisconsin Avenue, NW

For more information, please visit our website or the project website.

 

[Sloan]

From APTA Heritage Trolley March website

 

 

WAMU reports that planners working on the extension of the DC Streetcar are looking forward to using wireless technology along some or all of the prospective routes. The report to 

DC Mayor Muriel Bowser says that the 3-mile extension west to Georgetown would benefit from current onboard energy storage technology now being used in a growing number of cities. 

Being studied is technology that would use overhead charging points at each passenger stop along the route. However, the extension would not see service until the 2020s. 

“Advancements have been made in charging times where a 30-second passenger stop is sufficient to achieve a full charge. The fact that batteries are now considered a proven technology represents a major advance since the previous assessment in 2014,” the document said.

Streetcars would cost up to $500,000 more than the current ones due to the expense of the batteries and related electronics. Dedicated lanes would be desirable to reduce energy-wasting deceleration and acceleration due to traffic. 

The expense would be partly offset by the savings from not having to build foundations, poles, and trolley wire along off-wire stretches.

The eastern extension of the current line across the Anacostia River could be built either with or without off-wire segments.