Arlington 'Positive' on Streetcar, Despite Missing '14 Federal Funding List

The fact that the Columbia Pike streetcar project wasn't recommended to receive federal funding next year "isn't an insurmountable roadblock" for the parties that are working on it, Arlington Transportation Director Dennis Leach told Patch this week.

"We are taking a positive, forward-looking approach," Leach said. "We are absolutely committed to advancing an excellent environment on Columbia Pike, making it more transit-oriented and more walkable."

The streetcar's funding plan assumed the feds would kick in $75 million through Federal Transit Administration's Small Starts program, to which Arlington and Fairfax counties applied in the fall. It also relies on $35 million in state dollars and $140 million in local tax money, mostly from Arlington.

The FTA announced the projects it recommended funding through its Small Starts program last week, and the Columbia Pike streetcar wasn't on the list. The Washington Post speculated that sequestration could have been a reason why, noting that no first-time projects were in line to get funding — including other rail and bus rapid-transit projects.

Arlington and Fairfax officials weren't given a reason for the omission and are seeking more information from the FTA.

The first goal is to schedule a meeting to get detailed feedback on the application, Leach said. If it's necessary for the counties to modify and resubmit the application, "that's not unheard of in the Small Starts world," he said.

"We were never asking for funding at this stage," Leach said. "The next step for us is to be accepted for project development… which means you're in the program and you're given permission to do additional planning and engineering work."

"… So we were not at the stage of negotiating a funding agreement with FTA. This was an earlier stage."

Still, Leach told Patch on Monday that it was "too early to tell" if the lack of an FTA recommendation for next year would cause any substantial delays to the project.

The controversial project, over a decade in the making, would connect Pentagon City with the Bailey's Crossroads area of Fairfax County.

Planning for certain aspects of the project continues, including environmental work, a future Bailey's Crossroads streetcar station and an operations and maintenance facility.

Currently, buses run every two to three minutes at their peak on Columbia Pike, carrying about 16,000 people a day — the busiest thoroughfare in Virginia.

Arlington County expects the need to transport at least 30,000 people through a combination of bus and streetcar trips. The county projects opening-day ridership for the streetcar to be 14,000.

Those projections were made before the Arlington County Board adopted the Columbia Pike Neighborhoods Plan last summer, Leach said, which means they are likely to go up. Current projections do not account for the increased development detailed in the neighborhoods plan or the eventual linking-up with an eventual streetcar system along Route 1.

Aside from continuing to pursue federal funding, Arlington County pointed out in a news release last week that the transportation bill Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell signed this year allows Northern Virginia jurisdictions to increase sales tax by 0.7 cents specifically to fund transportation projects.