Washington DC: Rail transit

[202_Cyclist]

Capital Crescent Trail’s costs along future Purple Line rise


The popular Capital Crescent Trail. (Image courtesy of the Washington Post)

By Katherine Shaver
October 27, 2011
Washington Post

"The cost to rebuild the Capital Crescent Trail along a future Purple Line has ballooned from an estimated $65 million to $103 million, almost half of which would be spent to squeeze the trail and light-rail trains through a tunnel in downtown Bethesda.

The rising cost estimates from the Maryland Transit Administration reflect more detailed designs that illustrate the difficulty and “risks” of trying to build the trail and rail line through the tunnel beneath Wisconsin Avenue and two office buildings, according to the 80-page report..."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/...ONM_story.html

[electricron]

I'm not that familiar with the area to express an opinion what should be done with the tunnel. But I wanted to point out the trail is using the tunnel today. Whatever is decided, in the tunnel, at grade, or above grade, mitigation measures for the trail is needed.

[Urbana]

Is there any chance that the purple line will be heavy rather than light rail?
Also do we know whether it will run under or above ground?

[Urbana]

double post

[afiggatt]

Originally Posted by Urbana

Is there any chance that the purple line will be heavy rather than light rail?
Also do we know whether it will run under or above ground?

The choices for the http://www.purplelinemd.com/ Purple Line have been between light rail and BRT. No chance nor need for heavy rail. The cost cutters have pushed for BRT or semi-separated bus service, but light rail is the best solution here. Most of the route will be aboveground or elevated with only a few tunnels. Much of the route will be grade separated, although I don't have a count on how many grade crossings there are in the current selected design.

As I see it, the big benefit and advantage of the Purple Line that a lot of other light rail lines don't have is that it will connect to the DC Metro system at across 4 radial lines to DC (Red Line twice). The line will also go through the University of Maryland campus. Project that will have a major impact on the students going to UMD and for how people access and travel on the DC Metro system from the areas around the Purple Line.

[Urbana]

Originally Posted by afiggatt

The choices for the http://www.purplelinemd.com/ Purple Line have been between light rail and BRT. No chance nor need for heavy rail. The cost cutters have pushed for BRT or semi-separated bus service, but light rail is the best solution here. Most of the route will be aboveground or elevated with only a few tunnels. Much of the route will be grade separated, although I don't have a count on how many grade crossings there are in the current selected design.

As I see it, the big benefit and advantage of the Purple Line that a lot of other light rail lines don't have is that it will connect to the DC Metro system at across 4 radial lines to DC (Red Line twice). The line will also go through the University of Maryland campus. Project that will have a major impact on the students going to UMD and for how people access and travel on the DC Metro system from the areas around the Purple Line.

Thanks!

[202_Cyclist]

27,000 jobs per year for 30 years is not even slightly believable but the Purple line will still be a hugely beneficial infrastructure investment to revitalize older suburbs and greatly increase mobility for the Washington region.

Purple Line expected to be major economic engine, Md. officials say

By: Rachel Baye
11/03/11
Washington Examiner

“The Purple Line is expected to bring in $1.8 billion in revenue, raise property values $8.4 billion and create 27,000 new jobs every year over the course of 30 years, Purple Line Project Manager Mike Madden told a joint meeting of Montgomery and Prince George's county council members Thursday.
The jobs would be a combination of construction-related jobs and positions created through the economic development the proposed 16-mile light rail line is expected to generate in the areas it would serve -- which stretches from New Carrollton to Bethesda and includes College Park and Silver Spring, he said.

Though Madden acknowledged that the estimates "are extremely high," he said they are based on the experiences of cities with established light rail lines.

The rail system's 21 stations would connect all three MARC commuter lines with Metro's Red, Green and Orange lines, Amtrak and local bus systems, Madden said. About 30 percent of the estimated 60,000 daily riders are expected to use Metrorail for part of their trip…”

http://washingtonexaminer.com/local/...-officials-say

[ardecila]

Can't they move the trail alignment somewhere else through Bethesda? I can't think of a dense business district like Bethesda anywhere that has an underground bike bypass. The tunnel made sense for the B&O, but not for cyclists that need to get to their above-ground jobs and homes. It's not like the status quo is even very functional, either - the trail ends unceremoniously one block away at Woodmont.

I think an at-grade cycle track is a much better solution, with a bike garage somewhere in the Red Line-Purple Line station complex.

[202_Cyclist]

Airports board approves funding deal for Phase 2 of Dulles rail

By Dana Hedgpeth
Washington Post
November 16, 2011

"The board of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, which operates both Dulles and Reagan National, as well as supervises the construction of of the new Metrorail line to Loudoun County, approved a funding deal Wednesday for Phase 2 of the subway extension.

Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood announced last week that a financing deal was in place, although the agreement still needed the approval of the governing boards of the jurisdictions involved, including Fairfax and Loudoun counties and the airports authority, which gave its okay during a board meeting Wednesday.

LaHood said the federal government will provide loan assistance and Virginia has agreed to provide $150 million for the $2.8 billion second phase. Airports officials said the package includes $30 million in federal loans, which board members described as inadequate..."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...dLRN_blog.html

[202_Cyclist]

Extending the Line
Location of streetcar maintenance yard could radically change region’s transit options.

By Michael Lee Pope
Connection Newspapers
November 17, 2011

"Early next year, members of the Arlington County Board and the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors will make a decision that will have drastic consequences for the region’s transit options. At stake is the shape of the region’s high-capacity transit corridors and the ability of students at Northern Virginia Community College to take a streetcar to class.


An artist’s rendering of what the streetcar line could look like along Columbia Pike. (Image courtesy of the Connection Newspapers)

The question that will be before elected leaders in Arlington and Fairfax is where to locate a maintenance yard for the streetcar system. Current plans call for the facility to be located on a plot of land in Crystal City at a spot along the existing line. But leaders at Northern Virginia Community College have been in discussions with Arlington and Fairfax about potentially locating the maintenance yard at the Alexandria campus. Doing that would abandon existing plans for the initial line, although it would benefit students at the community college and connect the streetcar line with a high-capacity transit corridor Alexandria officials are planning to create along Beauregard Street..."

http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/...per=60&cat=104

[202_Cyclist]

Montgomery planners seeks ways to keep trail inside tunnel when Purple Line is built


Rebuilding the Capital Crescent Trail through a tunnel in downtown Bethesda as part of a Purple Line transitway would require funneling runners and cyclists through an eight-foot-tall clear tube built above light-rail trains, state engineers say. (Image courtesy of the Washington Post)

By Katherine Shaver
November 17, 2011
Washington Post

"The Montgomery County Planning Board asked Maryland transit officials Thursday to consider moving a Bethesda station for a future Purple Line to try to better accommodate a popular biking and running trail in a tunnel beneath Wisconsin Avenue.

Board members said the state’s latest estimate that it would cost $40.5 million to rebuild the trail inside the tunnel would make it too expensive. However, they said they didn’t want to pursue a far less expensive plan to rebuild the trail along local streets through crowded downtown Bethesda unless they had exhausted other possibilities for keeping it in the tunnel..."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/...iVN_story.html

[waltlantz]

Little worried about both stories.

The Arlington Streetcar issue is less urgent, but the Purple Line doesn't seem as smooth sailing as it's made out to be.

There seems to be a real divide between people who are for and against it, which is interesting as both are PRO TRANSIT.

Trail folk seem to think that it's a waste of money just to rip up some trees and precious green space for a rail line that will cause unwanted density and not take cars off the road.

Pro people think that it will provide traffic relief and improve the trail/maintain greenspace as well in the plan. Not to mention link key points in Maryland.

Both make decent arguments.

Although I take issue with the anti-PT's line about safety. We already have our kids near unpredictable cars most of the time. The light rail is not a safety issue if your child is attentive and educated.

Both make decent arguments.

[202_Cyclist]

Transportation bill brings money to Metro and changes to board of Airports Authority


By Dana Hedgpeth
Washington Post
11/18/2011

"Both houses of Congress have approved an appropriations bill for transportation that will have two major impacts in the D.C. region. It provides much-needed money for Metro and changes the makeup of the board that governs Dulles and Reagan airports.

The bill, which President Obama signed Friday, expands the size of the board of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) from 13 to 17 and would allow members to be removed by their appointing bodies — moves that Congressman Frank R. Wolf (R-Va.) has been pushing. Its members serve six-year terms and are not paid.

The transportation bill will also give Metro $150 million to help improve its deteriorating system. The money is part of a federal funding commitment to spend $1.5 billion over 10 years to improve Metro safety and infrastructure. It requires a match from Maryland, the District and Virginia..."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...ss=dr-gridlock

[202_Cyclist]

Montgomery County receives bus rapid transit grant

By Luz Lazo
Washington Post
11/21/2011

"Montgomery County has received a $260,000 grant it plans to use in the planning of a bus rapid transit system that county officials say would provide the convenience, comfort and reliability of light rail.

A 20-member county transit task force is studying how to build and pay for a 150-mile network of dedicated bus lanes to reduce traffic congestion and improve mobility for riders.

The Rockefeller Foundation grant— part of an initiative to assist localities in the United States to plan and construct bus rapid transit systems—will be used to hire consultants to conduct studies and research other areas with such systems already in place, officials said..."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...d9hN_blog.html

[202_Cyclist]

There is much concern about the cost overruns of the Silver Line and the H Street streetcar in the Washington Post and other local media but there isn't any similar amount of hand-wringing about how the ICC threatens to bankrupt Maryland's transportation budget.

Instead of spending $2.5B on the sprawl-generating Intercounty Connector, Maryland could have built the entire Purple Line and financed a good part of Baltimore's Red Line, especially if Maryland used value capture/tax-increment financing for the Purple Line. As one of my friends pointed out, assuming an 80% federal match for the 18-mile ICC is twice as much as all federal money spent on bicycle/pedestrian projects in one year for the entire country.

ICC puts strain on Maryland’s transportation funds


Mark Gail/The Post - The flyover ramps of the Intercounty Connector at Route 29.

By Katherine Shaver
November 21, 2011
Washington Post

"The 18.8-mile Intercounty Connector, which opened in full Tuesday, could be the last publicly funded highway built in Maryland for a generation, as the state’s tolling agency, which financed its $2.56 billion construction, reaches its debt limit, local transportation experts said.

Financing for the six-lane toll road linking Interstate 270 in Montgomery County with Interstate 95 in Prince George’s County leveraged the Maryland Transportation Authority’s statewide toll collections..."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/...7iN_story.html

[ardecila]

It might be the ruination of Maryland's budget, but it's a damn good-looking expressway.

[202_Cyclist]

There will be a meeting sponsored by Streetcars 4 DC to discuss the H Street streetcar alignment and other issues next Tuesday, Dec. 6 at 7 PM at the Atlas Theater.

Clearer Pictures of How the Streetcar May End, For Now

Posted by Lydia DePillis
Dec. 1, 2011
Washington City Paper

"Back in August, we learned what was under consideration for the H Street trolley's temporary connection to Union Station (after the initial idea, going through an underpass, fell through). Now, the District Department of Transportation has issued some sketches of their own, and they're a little different: The alternatives have narrowed to two, with stopping at F Street and going to the top of the H Street Bridge still in contention, while going up to the New York Avenue Metro stop is off the table..."


Alternative #1 for the temporary connection to Union Station. (Image courtesy of the Washington City Paper)

[202_Cyclist]

Metro expects to boost fares

By Dana Hedgpeth
December 1, 2011
Washington Post

"Metro bus and train riders should prepare to pay higher fares next year as the transit authority tries to close a $124 million budget gap.

“I will say that fare increases are coming,” Metro Chief Financial Officer Carol Kissal said Thursday.

At a finance committee meeting of Metro’s board of directors, Kissal provided a preliminary look at the budget for fiscal 2013, which starts July 1. The budget estimates revenue and subsidies from local jurisdictions of $1.43 billion, but expenses of $1.55 billion..."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/...iIO_story.html

[202_Cyclist]

For anyone who is interested, there will be a community meeting tonight at 7 PM at the Atlas Theater on H Street with Mayor Vince Gray and the District Department of Transportation director, Terry Bellamy.

[B]More construction ahead for H Street trolley line[/B]

By: Kytja Weir
12/05/11
Washington Examiner

"Commuters will have to wait a while to take a streetcar in the District -- and business owners and residents along their routes will have to endure more construction work to get the first trolleys running.

The line running down H Street and Benning Road in Northeast D.C. is slated to open in July 2013, said District Department of Transportation spokesman John Lisle. And the Anacostia line that was supposed to have been the first of eight routes to crisscross the city now lacks any exact start date, he said.

It's been a decade since city officials proposed a streetcar network, heralding the return of trolleys to the city. As recently as May 2010, then-Mayor Adrian Fenty pledged to have both the H Street and Anacostia lines ferrying riders by spring 2012 as the city announced a revised $1.5 billion plan to build a 37-mile streetcar network..."

http://washingtonexaminer.com/local/...y-line/1976776

[202_Cyclist]

Pike Streetcar Cost Soars

12/2/2011
ARL Now

"Late this afternoon, Arlington County revealed that the estimated cost for the proposed Columbia Pike streetcar line has increased by as much as $100 million over a 2007 cost projection.

The five-mile Columbia Pike streetcar line will run from Pentagon City to the Skyline area of Fairfax, and cost between $242 million and $261 million, according to “a new, more detailed analysis.” In 2007, officials pegged the cost at about $161 million.

“Inflation, an increase in the scope of the proposed project, additional engineering requirements, and federal requirements for higher contingency funding and escalation accounted for the increase in projected costs,” the county said in a press release. “The $50 million per-mile cost now estimated for the proposed streetcar project is comparable to the costs of similar projects across the nation...”

http://www.arlnow.com/2011/12/02/dev...+Happenings%29