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John Genderson, one of the owners of Schneider's Liquors, Photo by Andrew Lightman

As construction crews continue to place streetcar tracks on Benning Road and in Anacostia, the director of the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) said his agency is increasing its focus on the streetcar project and is weighing its options to speed up implementation of the transportation choice.

Tracks are being placed in Anacostia now, and the line will also be integrated on the 11th Street SE bridge project when that construction starts later this year. “Revenue service,” when the line is fully functional, will begin in the fall of 2012 in Anacostia.

The streetcar line planned for Benning Road and H Street NE will come into service later, although the Benning tracks will be in place by the end of this year. The H Street tracks will be completed in July 2011.

DDOT Director Gabe Klein said the streetcar project has taken longer than was originally planned primarily because of the way the project has been managed to date.

“I think one of the major problems is that no one at DDOT has been accountable for the project happening,” he said.

To address that issue, DDOT is building an internal streetcar team that will run the project. Klein’s chief of staff, Scott Kubly, is leading the team.

In addition to the management issue, Klein said other problems, such as utility issues and the details of how the streetcars will be powered, have slowed down the streetcar project.The power issue is still unanswered, as Klein said DDOT is still

unsure if the ban on overhead lines in parts of DC – the powering option preferred by the agency – is a local or federal issue to resolve. He said the “lawyers are still looking into it,” but added that recent technological innovations may make the issue a lesser concern.

For example, some streetcars are now battery-powered, eliminating the need for overhead lines or an in-ground electrical system, the secondary powering method. Klein also said that the streetcars could be battery-powered in parts of the city restricting overhead lines, with overhead lines powering the vehicles elsewhere.

The construction crews laying tracks on Benning also are installing the foundations for the poles that would hold overhead wires, if they were allowed.

“We are sort of hedging our bets. I personally think it’s less of an issue than some other people,” Klein said. Kubly added that these same foundations could also be used to hold streetlights even if overhead wires aren’t installed.

And, “there’s always the option to pass legislation” that would allow overhead lines, Klein said.

‘Unrealistic expectations’
Klein spoke of a comprehensive streetcar plan for the city, a project that could cost as much as $1 billion. However, the details of when the H Street and Benning line goes into service are far from clear.

The tracks are being placed on H Street and Benning Road now mainly because DDOT does not want to redo the roads again in a few years to place the tracks. However, before streetcar service could begin there, DDOT would have to acquire additional land to power the system and store the cars.

“It really was designed as an interim step,” Kubly said of placing tracks now.

Over the next few months, Klein said the department will look more closely at what it would take, in terms of time and resources, to get the line up-and-running sooner.

City officials predict it will be three years until the Anacostia line is in service, and even longer until a line is operable along H Street – that wasn’t news that community members wanted to hear at an August meeting on the streetcar project.

Bob Morris, a former ANC 6C commissioner, said that many people who opened businesses along H Street were under the impression that the line would be opening in the near future.

“We have businesses that really need this. We need to connect the population from the east side to the west side,” Morris said.

Klein apologized for the “unrealistic expectations” that some DDOT staff and others had for the line in the past but said that the delays could have some long-term benefits.

“It takes a good amount of time even when you’re doing it fast,” Klein said, noting that the streetcar system in Portland, Ore., took 11 years to implement after initial planning was completed.

The streetcar projects have relied on local funding to date, but the Obama Administration’s support of streetcars could lead to an opportunity to get federal funding to pay for at least some of the project, Klein said.

More Meetings Planned
The ANC commissioners who organized the August update meeting urged Klein and Kubly to work on their community outreach regarding this project, noting that DDOT has rarely held meetings on the issue in the past.
“For three years, we feel like it’s been kick the can down the road,” said ANC 6A Chairman Joe Fengler.