February 11, 2005
Metro Dreaming
One of our favorite parts of this online exhibit of the history of Metrorail designed by historian Zachary Schrag is the 'future of Metro' section, which includes the image to the left. The design is by one of Metro's original station architects, Stanley Allan, who imagines a circular line around the beltway and an entirely new Purple Line, among other additions.
Back in the real world, officials broke ground last fall on the Anacostia Corridor Demonstration Project, which will build a "modern streetcar" system to Anacostia. The Anacostia project, which planners hope to open in 2006, is part of a larger plan which would re-construct a streetcar system in the District we reported on back in September. Where do you think Metro should expand?
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They should put an Orange/Blue line station in Georgetown, damn it!
A fill-in station on the red line between Woodley Park and Dupont Circle, near the intersection of Connecticut and Columbia, would be nice.
Martin: they won't.
In general, I'm a big fan of the loop line...it's really frustrating (and awful) that it takes so long to get from, say, Medical Center to Silver Spring. It would also lessen the load on downtown lines.
Hmm. Before they do any expanding, they might wanna work on improving their terrible service, surly station managers, and poorly-maintained equipment.
The Orange line, for example, is overcrowded nearly everyday during rush hour. And just today, there was yet another "malfunction" with the train ahead of mine which caused me to have to take a cab the rest of the way to work AND arrive almost 30 minutes late to work.
The Allan map proposes hitting some neglected areas, but I'd like to go a step further.
Dulles, Herndon, Reston, Tysons, McLean, Route 120, Canal Road, Glover Park, Georgetown University-Key Bridge, Wisconsin and M, Kennedy Center. At that point (and since I want to get back to reading instead of just planning for a Metroline) let the line join Orange and Blue at Foggy Bottom and run to Metro Center. Figure that this line will alleviate a lot of Orange Line traffic that would otherwise go to West Falls Church and the run as Express Buses, therefore you're not changing the amount of traffic in the main tunnel. Eventually you can add the M Street crosstown tunnel onto this line.
Just a thought.
A Georgetown station is extremely difficult from an engineering standpoint. The common DC myth is that Georgetowners didn't want a station; that's not the case. The fact is that tunneling under the Potomac to Georgetown, or from Foggy Bottom to Georgetown, would necessitate a station significantly deeper than any other station in the metro system--an engineering nightmare.
But suppose an above ground crossing from the McLean area - a little further west of where the Three Sisters Bridge was supposed to have been. Then have the train dive once it's in the District - they can build it via cut and cover at that point, and don't have to worry about making a deep Georgetown station because it doesn't cross the river there.
Foggy Bottom isn't that deep - though it starts its dive shortly after the station.
Kanishka -
They found a way for a Georgetown station to be built - down on M St. or at the marina, as I recall - and the residents' protests are no myth. Back then, the shopping district was much less developed, and the residents didn't want the 'undesirables' (at the time, mostly blacks and punk rock kids) streaming in and making a mess.
It happened anyway, and now it's worth their while to have a Metro.
Michael--
Really? The previous comment thread indicates otherwise. I've heard different versions from so many people. I think I'll wait for Schrag's book for the definitive answer.
Yeah, the G-towners were Dead. Against. It. back in the day. Part of the reason there will not be a Metro there for a long time to come is that it really pissed off a lot of people in WMATA, in that they'd gone to some expense figuring out the engineering problems, and then, in the mid-late 90's, the very Georgetown citizens who'd blocked the plan in the first place started clamouring for a station, claiming it was never offered them. That *really* pissed people at WMATA off, and so G-town is pretty much SOL on subway coverage.
Georgetown really screwed themselves on this one. I never go there unless I absolutely can't avoid it. There is NOTHING down there that is worth sitting in that kind of traffic (or in a bus in that traffic) for any amount of time. With Metro, things would be much different.
I work in Georgetown and live in Columbia Heights and there's not a day that goes by without me cursing the snotty Gtowners who kept metro out (if that's truly the case) as I sit in the cold waiting to transfer buses. There's nothing like travelling a three-mile distance over the course of an hour.
Waaay, back in the day, Wife of DCeiver worked at a hoity-toity private principal in Georgetown (real estate ventures for wealthy Saudis). The job came with that coveted prize: 24-7 access to a parking space in a parking garage. Back then, yeah, we would spend some time in GT. But those days are gone, and man alive, I don't miss that neighborhood one bit.