The Streetcar Is Dead. Now What?

[Starduster]

The streetcar project for Columbia Pike is dead. Fisette is chastened, Vihistat and Garvey are elated, Tejada is mad, and over in Faixfax County, Sharon Bulova and Penny Gross are absolutely furious with us.

So what happens now in this new landscape? Specifically for us in the cycling community? The Pike remains a high-traffic bus corridor to 2 Metro stations; it remains a risky place to ride, even for the fittest, fastest, and most daring; and the 9th & 12th St Bike Boulevards can only address some of that, partially because of the Arlington tradition of streets that exist in a dozen disconnected segments.

Of concern is the bike trail segment needed to connect North Bridge Park (correction- Long Bridge Park) with the Mt. Vernon Trail under the humpback bridge. My understanding is that it is tied to the proposed Aquatic Center project at North Bridge. John Vihistat has opposed the Aquatic Center for similar reasons, and I expect it will be on the chopping block next. How can the trail segment be separated from the Aquatic Center project?

OK, I vented. But what will happen to our hopes and dreams in this new reality?

WGF

Topic

[baiskeli]

@DismalScientist 100086 wrote:

Where do street cars manage to work (and be high capacity)? I don’t see how rail in a nondedicated right of way can ever be significantly better than buses when there is significant traffic.

That’s the conundrum. Streetcars can work really well without dedicated lanes at a certain level of car traffic – and they do work fine in those conditions, all over the world. And by keeping more cars off the road, they perpetuate that low-traffic situation. The problem is that the Pike is already congested.

I wish they had considered running the line down parallel streets, with a few turns to intersect with the Pike and switch sides. I think that could have worked.

[dasgeh]

@Drewdane 100068 wrote:

As I don’t live in Arlington and was only tangentially aware of a streetcar proposal at all, can someone explain what this has to do with bicycles?

Indirectly, as others have said, this affects cycling advocacy a lot: it informs how we may want to make our case (SAVINGS! It costs the County X times less to move people on bikes than on cars, but we need the upfront investment); and we should be aware of the environment it has created with our neighbors.

Directly, the Pike is horrible for bikes. There is most likely a new process for planning that will happen on the Pike. The cycling community MUST be on the table, and must insist that bike connections exist to serve the entire area (unlike the current bike blvds, which stop).

[bobco85]

In the next few years, I fully expect to see little improvement save for nicer sidewalks with undergrounded utilities (which is really nice, as Steve O pointed out in the Wilson Blvd restriping thread) and possibly articulated buses. I suppose that they could adjust the lanes running in each direction according to time of day to improve traffic flow as follows:

• Normal (mid-day and nighttime): 2 lanes west/2 lanes east
• Morning rush hour: 1 lane west/3 lanes east
• Evening rush hour: 3 lanes west/1 lane east

Funny story: yesterday happened to be my dad’s birthday, and he was more than happy to hear the news that the streetcar was cancelled as he opposed it (what a birthday present!). He’s not anti-transit, as he had pushed for an underground Metro line years ago along Columbia Pike and still supports the idea, but the low density was the main issue for its rejection.

@baiskeli 100156 wrote:

I wish they had considered running the line down parallel streets, with a few turns to intersect with the Pike and switch sides. I think that could have worked.

It’s interesting that they did this exact thing, except with bicycle boulevards instead of a streetcar. That said, the streetcar would still have to share the bridge over Four Mile Run which would make things a bit hectic.

[Raymo853]

@mstone 100150 wrote:

You understand that politics is the art of the possible?

Correct and I know this is not possible. I know what will happen and what is politically possible: Some sort of solution done in parts, just as expensive, will not solve all the problems & cause some new ones and none of it will be sustainable, green nor make even a majority happy.

[Geoff]

I’m another one who, not living in Arlington, has not paid attention to this issue. Why is it that “Sharon Bulova and Penny Gross are absolutely furious with us”? Did the bike community oppose the street cars, promise support and not come through, doom the effort by asking for too much…?

[DismalScientist]

The “us” she is furious with is the Arlington County Board.

[PotomacCyclist]

CP Metro isn’t happening, at least not in the foreseeable future. WMATA’s fantasy wish list (released last year, I think) included all of the big ticket items that they would like to have in a fantasy world where funding would not be an issue. They understood that many or most of the items would never be built. Even on such a fantasy list, they didn’t include a Columbia Pike MetroRail line. I’ve never heard of any serious campaigns or proposals to build support for such a line. Some people mention the line on article comments, but that’s it. I can’t even begin to imagine how supporters would be able to convince North Arlington (sorry about the geographic division, but that really is where the streetcar opposition was greatest), VDOT and the federal government to spend billions of dollars on such a line.

Others have also pointed out that it wouldn’t just be a CP line. Both of the MetroRail connections to DC are already shared among two or more lines. (Blue, Orange and Silver in the Rosslyn tunnel; while the 14th St. Metro bridge only carries the Yellow, that route has to share the tracks with the Green line at the first stop in DC — L’Enfant Plaza). Either the CP line would have to share the route with the Yellow and Green lines in DC, or a new MetroRail route would need to be built in DC as part of the CP line. That would add billions more to the overall cost of such a line. This simply isn’t going to get passed and approved by anyone at this point. If it does, it would be astonishing.

[lordofthemark]

@Geoff 100198 wrote:

I’m another one who, not living in Arlington, has not paid attention to this issue. Why is it that “Sharon Bulova and Penny Gross are absolutely furious with us”? Did the bike community oppose the street cars, promise support and not come through, doom the effort by asking for too much…?

Its naive to think that the ALL POWERFUL BIKE LOBBY (TM) which is capable of both depriving King Street homeowners of their sacred property rights to public parking spaces, and of begriming Manhattan, couldn’t get a minor project like Pike Rail passed. Unless and until Penny Gross’s exact location is known, I would be very wary of riding on the Holmes Run trail in Fairfax.

[lordofthemark]

But seriously, Fairfax – THIS is the place for a rail line to revive Baileys. http://route7corridorstudy.com/

Arlington may have dumped you, but lovely Alexandria would never do such a thing – right?

[Geoff]

@lordofthemark 100215 wrote:

Its naive to think that the ALL POWERFUL BIKE LOBBY (TM) which is capable of both depriving King Street homeowners of their sacred property rights to public parking spaces, and of begriming Manhattan, couldn’t get a minor project like Pike Rail passed.

On the other hand, Courtland Milloy single-handedly blocked us from getting an elevator on 15th street, or whatever that was.

[baiskeli]

@Geoff 100198 wrote:

I’m another one who, not living in Arlington, has not paid attention to this issue. Why is it that “Sharon Bulova and Penny Gross are absolutely furious with us”? Did the bike community oppose the street cars, promise support and not come through, doom the effort by asking for too much…?

I don’t think cyclists were united on the issue (as discussion on this thread shows) or had involvement as a group. Even if they did, they weren’t a factor.

[baiskeli]

@Geoff 100221 wrote:

On the other hand, Courtland Milloy single-handedly blocked us from getting an elevator on 15th street, or whatever that was.

Curse him! I guess we’ll have to use e-bikes instead.

[ShawnoftheDread]

I’m happy to learn that my friends on the Forum, that hotbed of Arlington chauvinism, actually care what Fairfax County and its illustrious Board thinks of them. I didn’t know you thought so highly of our suburban opinions.

[chris_s]

@lordofthemark 100217 wrote:

But seriously, Fairfax – THIS is the place for a rail line to revive Baileys. http://route7corridorstudy.com/

Arlington may have dumped you, but lovely Alexandria would never do such a thing – right?

LOL, Alexandria already dumped Arlington (not that it mattered much in the long run). Be wary of anyone claiming Alexandria is going to spend money on anything other than the Potomac Yard Metro station for the next 10 years. Until 3 years from now when they finally admit they also can’t afford the Potomac Yard Metro station. Then they’ll have money.

[Starduster]

Next time you’re in the Pentagon Metro Stration, aim a flashlight into the tunnel at the south end, either level. No turnout (switch) on the track, but there is a space in the tunnel for a switch and the beginnings of another tunnel. Metro planned for a possible new route at that point when the station was built. Several decades on, we wait…

A new Metro line will require much money and the political *will* to make it happen. Both are in short supply right now.

On Columbia Pike, we are commited and locked into the existing road width. *All* of the new mixed use highrises, end to end, are built right up to the sidewalk. The only thing being razed are old one story storefronts. Morris Van’s place will be replaced evenually.

In the meantime, we have to protect our cycling interests in a new political climate.

[Author]

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