H Street has been known for a few things. In the early 20th century it was a thriving and ethnically diverse commercial corridor. Then came the riots of ’68 followed by years of economic downturn, suburban flight and violence. The past few years have seen rapid turn-around spurred by folks brave, crazy and savvy enough to foresee the “next big thing”
This optimism has been partially fueled by the city’s commitment to remake the 15 block stretch of road from a thruway for Maryland commuters into an attractive, pedestrian friendly neighborhood through the Great Streets program. This means new sidewalks, some trees and some more stoplights to slow down Joe Commuter. However the sexiest aspect of this project which has caught the attention of people far beyond H Street is the trolley.
References to Mr. Rogers or a post-Oz Judy Garland aside, the trolley/streetcar (I think streetcar is the more accurate term but trolley is just so quaint) has been a pie-in-the-sky rumor or as long as I have lived here (going on 10 years) This past winter Tommy Wells addressed a brief and highly informative meeting sponsored by the H Street-Benning Road Streetcar initiative at the Atlas Performing Arts Center (full disclosure-my employer.)
According to Wells, the H Street and Anacostia lines are to be the first of a someday-waaay-in-the-future citywide streetcar system. Three cars have already been purchased and they are patiently waiting for us in Prague. The tracks are currently being laid on H Street. So all would seem that we’ll get to hop on board some time soon.
Keep that X2 schedule handy because this whole Streetcar plan has some serious questions that need answering…such as where will this H Street line go? It needs go over the Benning Road bridge which is not currently strong enough to support trolleys and tracks. But the biggest bugaboo facing the streetcar is: How will it be powered? Most streetcars systems worldwide are powered by overhead wires which, as our our only-in-DC luck would have it, are not currently allowed in L’Enfant’s historic city. Council Member Well’s spoke of how the city of Basel, Switzerland (dates back to Roman times so probably a bit more, um, historic than DC I’d imagine) employs the wires and still one of the most beautiful cities he’s seen.
Wire opponents cite the ugliness of the overhead wires and instead advocate for battery powered streetcars which the pro-wire faction argue are less-practical due to their weight and constant need for recharging.
How will this end? Who knows? Despite the years of planning for the streetcars, DDOT has not revealed how they intend to deal with the issue. Most of the transportation reform advocates are for the wires but this means Congress must repeal the law which forbids the wires. Lovely.
What do you think? Should Congress overturn the ban? Or are wires an ugly menace and everyone should just stop being babies and take the bus..