Streetcar's Future on Benning Road?
DC Mayor Muriel Bowser is reviewing a long-anticipated plan for a streetcar line along H Street and Benning Road in Northeast. Her acting transportation director Leif Dormsjo recently told the city council that it was no longer a guarantee. While the city waits, opinions are forming, reports the Washington City Paper. Some favor scrapping the project, arguing that H Street is walkable enough as is, and that the anticipation of the streetcar had stimulated enough growth. Others are saying that it’s really Benning Road that needs the streetcar, along with a plan to nurture retail and add some affordable housing as property values potentially rise. Some are saying a streetcar will be a major boost like it has been in cities like Portland, where a development boom has lined the rails. With so much vacancy along Benning, a new streetcar could send a signal to developers that the corridor is an attractive place to invest. [CP]
