Thursday, April 18, 2013
Transportation director: County was not yet at point to negotiate funding with feds.
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 …
Thursday, March 28, 2013
Arlington residents left a heated town hall on the planned Columbia Pike streetcar with mixed reactions Wednesday night.
Arlington residents left a heated town hall on the planned Columbia Pike streetcar with mixed reactions Wednesday night. The Arlington County Board and county staff took questions from anyone who had them about the proposed $250 million streetcar project that would connect Columbia Pike and Bailey's Crossroads. Time constraints forced some to leave without being able to ask their question. They were told to fill out a comment sheet, which prompted an angry outburst just before 9 p.m. [More: Columbia Pike Streetcar Town Hall Gets Heated] “I am very pleased staff and board members invested time and energy into the meeting,” said Dan Dixon, a member of Arlingtonians for Sensible Transit, which opposes the project. "Unfortunately, the setup …
Arlington County Board answers questions about controversial project.
At times, it seems like people who support the planned streetcar for Columbia Pike and those who oppose it are speaking two different languages. Hundreds representing both sides showed up Wednesday night for what turned out to be a fairly heated town hall at Kenmore Middle School. Four of the five Arlington County Board members explained the processes and decisions that have taken place over the last decade and have gotten the county to this point. To them, the discussion has been going on, scores of people have participated, and the streetcar remains the best long-term strategic investment to run along the Pike. To board member Libby Garvey, who opposes the streetcar and seems less concerned about any political consequences of her …
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
The first so-called Super Stop opened this week at Walter Reed and Columbia Pike.
The $1 million price tag on the first so-called Super Stop along the Columbia Pike corridor gave Arlington County Board member Libby Garvey an opening Tuesday to voice opposition to the planned streetcar. The Super Stop, which opened this month at Walter Reed and Columbia Pike, is designed to hold 10 to 15 passengers and allow two buses to stop in front of it at a time. Real-time ART and Metrobus information is available and the county hopes to install an exit fare machine in the future. Garvey wasn't impressed. "It is pretty, but I was struck by the fact that if it's pouring rain, I'm going to get wet," she said. "It's not much of a shelter." County officials on Tuesday emphasized the various factors that fed into that price and pledged …
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Planned transit system would connect Pentagon City to Bailey's Crossroads via Columbia Pike.
Love the idea of a Columbia Pike streetcar? Hate it? Either way, there's a group for you. Over the past couple of months, community groups have formed to both oppose and support the planned $249 million transit system that would connect Pentagon City with the Bailey's Crossroads area of Fairfax County. Arlingtonians for Sensible Transit came first. This group is bent on getting the Arlington County Board to agree to a cost-benefit analysis to prove whether a bus rapid transit, or BRT, system is a better option. "It is premature to know whether a fixed-rail street car is the best option for the Columbia Pike revitalization because other viable options, such as a modern BRT have not been fully and fairly considered," wrote Arlington resident…
Monday, February 4, 2013
Patch welcomes letters to the editor. We reserve the right to edit for accuracy, clarity and brevity. Links added by Patch.
- GOVERNMENT
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Monday, February 4
Our Arlington County Board chairman, Walter Tejada, is to be commended for hosting one of his town hall meetings about the streetcar from 6:45 to 9 p.m. March 27 at Kenmore Middle School. All of our board members are expected be on hand to deliver an update on the current situation and, most importantly, to hear from those of us who do not agree that the streetcar is the most financially feasible and efficient way of moving people up and down Columbia Pike as development pressure intensifies in the years ahead. Other options, like Bus Rapid Transit, need to be further explored and closely vetted before a final decision is made. This forum, including the brief update of current plans, must be followed by a panel discussion of …
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Arlington, Alexandria originally planned to split the cost of a Route 1 streetcar.
Arlington County's investment in a planned Crystal City streetcar increased Tuesday night as the county copes with its partner, Alexandria, putting its end of the deal on hold. The Arlington County Board voted 4-1 to pay an additional $664,000 to URS Corp. to make up the difference caused by Alexandria's departure, which may or may not be temporary. Board member Libby Garvey, who opposes the Columbia Pike streetcar and spent much of the past week trying to defeat or delay a funding mechanism for major transportation projects, cast the dissenting vote Tuesday. The county's plans call for the eventual connection of the streetcar systems along Columbia Pike and Route 1. But Alexandria's use of a bus rapid transit system along the Route 1 …
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Arlington County Board adopts rules that allow public-private partnerships to finance major transportation projects.
The Arlington County Board on Monday adopted guidelines that will allow public-private partnerships to help finance major transportation projects, like the Columbia Pike streetcar, after an unusually heated discussion. Board member Libby Garvey, who was elected in November to her first full four-year term partially on a platform that included opposing the streetcar, fought an uphill battle all night. She fought — with question after question, after question, after question. For about three hours, the board dissected the Virginia Public-Private Transportation Act and pages of new or amended county procurement guidelines. Garvey insisted that the guidelines did not include enough public safeguards — that the new policy would allow a large …
Friday, November 16, 2012
Board later this month will likely give the county more flexibility in designing and building major capital projects like the Columbia Pike streetcar.
Arlington County likely will update its purchasing guidelines later this month to allow, in part, for more flexibility in the decision-making and planning processes that will lead to a streetcar system along Columbia Pike. Board members held a three-hour work session Thursday night at Arlington Central Library with transit officials from Salt Lake City, Denver and Minneapolis-St. Paul, along with representatives of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, the procurement agency for the city of Ottawa, Canada, and a Montreal-based private contractor. "They're giving us information, different mechanisms on how to put this together," County Manager Barbara Donnellan told Patch. "We really can learn from their experiences." They …
Saturday, November 3, 2012
Neighborhood business, civic association and property owner coalition ways in on controversial issue.
The Columbia Pike Revitalization Organization issued this statement in October following a series of Arlington County Board candidate debates. Click here to watch the Patch-Arlington Independent Media forum for county board candidates. Recent publications suggest that Bus Rapid System would be superior to a Streetcar serving the transit needs of our area. The Columbia Pike Revitalization Organization takes this opportunity to reaffirm support for a modern Streetcar. In July 2012, the Arlington County Board and Fairfax County Board chose a modern Streetcar as the preferred transit alternative in our corridor. This decision was correct and well informed. The rationale in support of a BRT alternative has been exhaustively discussed during …
CSG
9:04 pm on Friday, April 19, 2013
I have written the DOT Inspector General asking for an investigation of Arlington Transportation Director Dennis Leach based upon the outrageous waste of tax dollars for the Pike bus shelter aka 'public art' project. more ›