DDOT to Host Public Meeting for the Benning Road Streetcar Line Extension Feasibility Study

*** PUBLIC MEETING NOTICE***

 

DDOT to Host Public Meeting for the Benning Road Streetcar Line Extension Feasibility Study

 

Community Stakeholders Are Encouraged to Attend and Provide Input on Streetcar Line Extension

(Washington, D.C.)  The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) is hosting a public meeting on Thursday, September 6, to discuss a study it has initiated to explore the feasibility of extending the H Street/Benning Road streetcar line east of the Anacostia River, in northeast Washington, and solicit input from community stakeholders.

As part of the study, DDOT will look into how it may be able to link the H Street/Benning Road streetcar line to the Minnesota Avenue Metro Station or the Benning Road Metro Station.

At this meeting DDOT will provide an overview on the scope of the study and explain the technical work that will be performed as part of the study.

The meeting will be structured to allow for 30 minutes of materials review and individual discussion with team members prior to a 30-minute presentation.  A one-hour question and answer session will follow the conclusion of the presentation and will offer an opportunity for participants to provide additional input.

What:                   Public Meeting for the H Street/Benning Road Streetcar Line Extension Feasibility Study

              

When:                  Thursday, September 6, 2012

                              6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Where:                Department of Employment Services, Community Room

                              4058 Minnesota Avenue, NE

Transit:                The meeting venue is adjacent to the Minnesota Avenue Metro Station and is accessible by Metrobus routes A31, U2, U4, U5, U6, U7, U8, V7, V8, X1,                    X2, X3, and X9.

For more information about this meeting please contact the DC Streetcar management team at dcstreetcar@dc.gov or call 855-413-2954.

For more information about the DC Streetcar, please visit www.dcstreetcar.com.

 

DDOT is committed to ensuring that no person is excluded from participation in, or denied the benefits of, its projects, programs, and services on the basis of race, color, national origin, or gender, as provided by Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 or on the basis of disability as provided by the Americans with Disabilities Act.

 

If you need special accommodations or language assistance services (translation or interpretation), please contact the DC Streetcar management team atdcstreetcar@dc.gov or dial 855- 413-2954 in advance of the meeting. These services will be provided free of charge.

H Street’s Got Talent — Kids edition

Hello Kingman Park,

Can you believe that H Street Festival is only four weeks away September 15, 2012 (9/15)?

Do you know a child that has talent?

The Kids Stage (located on 10th and H Street NE) is hosting “H Street’s Got
Talent — Kids edition” this year If your child is interested in
performing, apply to be considered for a 5 minute time slot

Look forward to seeing you all at the festival!

http://bit.ly/ kidsstage

Thanks

H Street Festival

FOKP, Committee of 100, and Cmb. McDuffie Continue Opposition to Carbarn Location

Councilmember McDuffie renewed his opposition to the location of the Carbarn on Spingarn’s Campus via letter on July 18, 2012.  Letters by the Friends of Kingman Park, the Committee of 100, and an earlier letter by Counilmember McDuffie have also been filed with the Mayor.

Current Commissioner for 7D01 (and other author of this blog) Lisa White and other Kingman Park residents have been fighting the location of the carbarn for months, while other Kingman Park residents strongly support it.  As of now, the Mayor shows no signs that he intends to find another location.

Opinion Piece by Kingman Park Resident W.Simpkins: Sustaiable DC Not In NE DC

When I think of DC government officials stealing; I now think of DDOT and ask myself:
 
Why do DC officials steal?  from children?  DC taxpayers?
 
I know the answer: 1) greed and 2) we are easily victimized.
 
Harry Thomas Jr stole from children. Just before he was caught, he also helped DDOT (DC Dept. of Transportation) perpetrate another scandalous theft of natural resources from DC taxpayers. Days before he was forced out of the Ward 5 Counsel office, he signed off on a dastardly plan to take the only schoolyard at Spingarn High school’s Ward 5 campus for the purposes of building a switching yard for DC Trolley.  Of course, the plan is an illegal one.  It violates 1) the R-5 residential zoning code and 2) a standing Donna Shalala executive order to safeguard children.
 
Indeed, the same bungling engineers who wastefully spent millions on streetcars that didn’t meet federal environmental guidelines are now spending millions improperly on an illegal plan that flaunts environmental codes and safety regulations by glibly calling their abomination a “school” and now a “training center” or “car barn.”  It is none of these. The “Car Barn/ Training Center” lie was exposed in meetings with DDOT when they admitted that they may not have any high school student apprentices working there and indeed will build a barn enclosure large enough for only three repair bays. 
 
Therefore, the “Car Barn Training Center” is merely a trojan horse label that is neither a car barn or a training center but an open air switching yard/ trolley car storage yard and a three car mechanics’ garage that is not suitable for location on school grounds or in a residential zone. One break-test is one too many for that zoning.  Twenty-four hour per day steel wheel on steel track is too much for that residential zone.
 
Moreover, Spingarn is a historically significant green space that is, along with Langston Golf Course, on the National Historic Register of landmark properties.
 
Greedy DDOT engineers couldn’t care less.  They are years behind schedule, millions over budget and since their job security is not tied to any performance evaluation, they believe that they can steal this vital residential green space west of the Anacostia River without the Sustainable powers of Upper West NW DC raising an eyebrow.
 
Another DDOT lie supports the subtrafuge: “We cannot afford to stay with the original Union Station plan or clean up industrial zoned land one mile away from Spingarn. 

 

1) Amtrak’s invitations to DDOT went unanswered as Amtrak was willing to find a location for DDOT at Union Station (read the Amtrak meeting minutes) that would not interfere with their ten year plan to bring high speed rail to DC. 

 

2) DDOT simply must bear the actual costs of their project without strealing; eg,cleaning up the industrial zones on Benning Road if that’s what it takes. Period. “DDOT can’t afford it” is not a rational that allows stealing healthy green space from kids and illegally exposing a neighborhood and commuters alike to industrial noise, chemical and visual pollution.
 
So, despite the claims made by Sustainable DC (a consortium of DC and federal gov chiefs), to preserve green space -especially schoolyards- as a valuable commodity and healthy resource, not one public or business leader has yet stood up to the illegal plan. 
 
Who will take leadership to right the wrong of this latest scandal perpetrated against the taxpayer by DDOT, DC Office of Planning and the Mayor’s office? 
 
The BZA (the Board of Zoning Adjustment) said that they are willing to hear an appeal of any city administrator’s decision (according to DC Municipal Code, Title 11, Sec. 3112 .2) but only within 60 days of that decision.  They claim that the mayor’s office and DDOT is not above the law and must follow zoning like any developer.
 
So, I ask again:  who among us will stand up for a sustainable DC?
 
Schedule an appeal at BZA.  You have standing if you’re a taxpayer and a human being.

Burglary Suspect Sought

 (Washington, DC)- The Metropolitan Police Department is seeking the public’s assistance in identifying a person of interest sought in two Burglaries in which elderly victims have been targeted.  

 Although the Department has not definitively linked both cases the circumstances indicate it is possible both burglaries were committed by the same individual.

 In both instances the suspect knocked on the victims’ door, advised he was a maintenance worker, and that he needed to fix a toilet that was leaking to the below apartment.  After gaining entry the suspect went to the bathrooms and surveyed the toilets.  He then assaulted the victims and stole personal property.

 In both instances the suspect was described as a Black male, approximately 5’7” – 5’8 tall.

Below is the date and location of these burglaries:

•  June 19, 2012, 5:10 PM, in the 1400 block of Florida Avenue, NE
• June 26, 2012, 1:30 PM, in the 1200 block of G Street, SE.

 In connection with the June 19^th incident, a person of interest is shown in this surveillance video signing a book in the front lobby of the building

During the June 19^th incident, the suspect is further described as being 40 to 45 years of age, weighing 200 to 220 pounds. He was last seen wearing a blue collared shirt with 3/4-length sleeves, tan trousers, and white tennis shoes.

Anyone with information about this case is asked to call the police at (202) 727-9099. Additionally, anonymous information may be submitted to the department’s TEXT TIP LINE by text messaging 50411.

EMERGENCY COMMUNITY MEETING:PROPOSED CAR BARN LOCATION AT SPINGARN CAMPUS

WARD 5 EMERGENCY COMMUNITY MEETING

PROPOSED CAR BARN LOCATION AT SPINGARN CAMPUS

 MONDAY, JUNE 25, 2012

6:00 – 7:30 pm

PHELPS ACE HIGH SCHOOL (MEDIA LIBRARY)

704 26TH STREET NE

Statement on Proposed Car Barn at 26th and Benning Road (Spingarn Campus) Location

 Thank you for all of the calls and emails my office has been receiving regarding the future, proposed location of one of DC Streetcar’s car barn – Benning Road & 26th Street NE.  The proposed location, which is directly on Spingarn Senior High School’s campus, is a major concern of mine, and I welcome any additional feedback that you may have on this important matter.

 Although the decision to place the car barn on Spingarn’s campus predates the time of when I took office, I am nevertheless asking for explanations to the same questions you have posed.   I have already contacted representatives from the District Department of Transportation (DDOT), the Mayor’s Office, as well as the other major stakeholders, in order to better understand why the city decided to incorporate the car barn’s proposed location in the plan.

 In the meantime, I invite you to join me for an EMERGENCY MEETING on Monday, June 25, from 6:00 to 7:30 PM at Phelps ACE High School.  A representative from DDOT has been invited to discuss the plan in greater detail and answer any questions that you may have regarding the proposed location for the car barn.

 Rest assured, I am working diligently to ascertain more information regarding this matter and will follow up with residents to determine the next course of action.  If you have any additional questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact my office.  Thank you.

 Kenyan R. McDuffie

Councilmember, Ward 5

The John A. Wilson Building

1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.

Suite 410

Washington, DC 20004

Hop Chef Competition

DC Streetcar Meeting: Thurs. Apr. 12, 2012@6:30pm

Where will the money come from to operate the Streetcars?

Will the communities around the Streetcar- H Street/Benning Road pay the price? Read the article below and tell me what you think?? Leave a comment.

 Lisa White, ANC Commissioner SMD 7D01 Kingman Park

D.C.: Need to find ways to pay for 42% of streetcar costs

The first two lines of the D.C. streetcar system will cost an estimated $64.5 million to operate in the first five years, beyond the cost to build the lines, according to city officials.

But the city now says it only has 58 percent of the costs covered among fares, federal grants and local funds.

City transportation officials laid out several options this week to fill the 42 percent gap: adding special tax districts along the streetcar corridors, raising property assessments to reflect increased value of the property nearby, tapping into performance parking revenues or increasing sales taxes citywide.

Options to cover streetcar operating costs

The city’s proposed options would bring in varying amounts to fund the trolleys in the first year:

• Increasing property assessments along 600 feet on each side of the One City Line: $1.5 million in new property taxes

• Tapping performance parking fees: $2.5 million

• Adding a quarter of 1 cent to retail sales taxes: $16 million

• Adding a special assessment of 10 cents per $100 assessed value for any property within 600 feet of the One City Line: $17 million

Source: District Department of Transportation

Fares alone won’t pay the way, a common issue for nearly all transportation systems. The District Department of Transportation estimates that fares would cover 19 percent of the costs to run the first two lines over five years. By comparison, Metro fares cover 82 percent of the costs for Metrorail and 27 percent of Metrobus expenses.

Currently, Mayor Vincent Gray has allocated enough money in his budget proposal to pay for the first three months of the H Street/Benning Road line when it is slated to start running in July 2013, said DDOT spokesman John Lisle.

But beyond that is not clear. That’s about $27 million to cover over five years, a question the D.C. Council likely will have to resolve soon.

The city dreams of building a 37-mile streetcar network of eight lines. Initially, it would start with the H Street/Benning Road Line, later extending it to run seven miles to Georgetown as the newly dubbed One City Line. A 1.1-mile stretch would run in Anacostia.

Earlier this year, a D.C. report said the full streetcar network would push up property values by 5 percent to 12 percent, adding an estimated $5 billion to $7 billion to existing property values. Separately, it would spur new development over 10 years by as much as $8 billion.

Tax revenue spun off that growth would bring in money eventually. But the streetcars are needed first to build that growth, and money is needed to run the streetcars.

kweir@washingtonexaminer.com

Development Around Streetcar Lines: Focus on Benning Road

D.C. Council pushing development around streetcar lines

Article reposted from the Washington Examiner

In a morning breakfast meeting Wednesday, D..C. Council members told the mayor and the Department of Transportation that they wanted development around the city’s upcoming streetcar lines to get going sooner rather than later.

Members particularly focused on Benning Road, home to a Metro station and the future home of a streetcar line toward H Street Northeast. Ward 6 Councilman Tommy Wells said he wanted to bring developers into the process now so the city could ensure that affordable housing would be planned near the lines. Ward 7 Councilwoman Yvette Alexander asked whether the city was considering tax incentives for businesses.

So far, the simple answer to those questions is “not yet,” although the city’s Deputy Mayor of Economic Development was at the meeting. Mayor Vincent Gray also noted that H Street has undergone a huge transformation over the past decade just on the promise of a streetcar line there.

The city’s first lines are still slated to open sometime next year.

Speaking of the Streetcars: Please attend this upcoming meeting:

Thursday, April 12, 2012 6:30 pm – 8 pm H Street/Benning Road Streetcar Line

Quarterly Meeting

  Spingarn High School—Cafeteria: 2500 Benning Road, NE  

                                 Ward 5, 6 and 7 residents, as well as other interested stakeholders, are encouraged to attend this meeting to hear about the latest updates on the H Street/Benning Rd streetcar line, provide input and ask questions.