Columbia Pike Streetcar

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This editable Main Article is under development and subject to a disclaimer.

[edit intro]

Rolling stock for the route had yet to be chosen, but most modern streetcars have a low floor section, to accommodate wheelchairs, like this modern streetcar from Portland Oregon.

The Columbia Pike Streetcar was a plan to build a modern streetcar route in the municipalities that surround Washington D.C, the capitol of the United States of America.[1]

The route's name comes from an archaic term, used locally, for a highway. In the Maryland and Virginia area highways were often referred to as "turnpikes". The original Columbia Turnpike connected the District of Columbia with destinations to its north and to its west.

The route would have been 5 miles long, and cost $300 million to construct.[1] The route would have started at Pentagon City, a business complex next to The Pentagon, in Arlington Virgina, and gone west to Skyline in Fairfax County.

Proponents claimed the route would stimulate the local economy.[2]

Politicians who had been supporters of the route dropped their support when they felt their constituents had shown a lack of support, and the plan was cancelled on November 18, 2014.[1][3]

Libby Garvey, a critic of the route, had called for its replacement with a bus rapid transit route, instead. However, in an article five years after the cancellation, Inside Northern Virginia quoted Walter Tejada, a politician who remained committed to the streetcar route, who noted support for the bus rapid transit replacement was forgotten, when the streetcar was cancelled. Garvey's praise of Rob Ford, then mayor of Toronto, and another vocal opponent of streetcars, triggered attention from Toronto Journalists.[4][5][6][7][8]

Garvey claimed councilor Chris Zimmerman was in a conflict of interest on the streetcar issue.[9] She claimed Zimmerman was being paid for consulting work he was performing for one of firms with a contract for the streetcar line. The Arlington Board ultimately cleared Zimmerman.[10]

## WMATA's Metroway[edit]

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) opened the Metroway, a bus rapid transit route, in 2014.[11] Pentagon City is its northern terminus. This may have been the model that inspired Libby Garvey to oppose a streetcar route.

The Metroway runs 4.5 miles south from Pentagon City to Alexandria, Virginia.[11]

It was built to use its own dedicated roadway - one not shared with other traffic.[11] It has 17 covered stations, like light rail line. According to Arlington Now the line cost $42 million to construct.

## References[edit]

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Scott McCaffrey. 5 years later, battle scars over Columbia Pike streetcar are still healing, Inside Northern Virginia, 2019-11-20. Retrieved on 2022-03-22. “Other projects decried by critics as gold-plated – the Artisphere arts center, Long Bridge Park aquatics center and pricey transit stops along Columbia Pike – also were either abandoned or scaled back after 2014. But it was the decision to scrap the streetcar that proved the biggest civic and political earthquake in a generation.”
2. ↑ Ethan Rothstein. Is the Ongoing Streetcar Debate Slowing Development on the Pike?, Arlington Now, 2013-11-26. Retrieved on 2013-11-26. “County Board Member Libby Garvey — who was elected last year on an anti-streetcar platform and is currently the lone voice of streetcar dissent on the Board — isn’t so sure about Karantonis’ hypothesis.”
3. ↑ Eric Jaffe. Its Streetcar Plan Defeated, Arlington Looks to Better Buses, City lab, 2014-11-24. Retrieved on 2015-08-09. “Last week, Arlington County, Virginia, abruptly canceled a proposed five-mile streetcar line on Columbia Pike that was years in the making. Project supporters didn't react well to the news.”
4. ↑ Scott McCaffery. Streetcar Question of the Day: Who Is Mayor Ford and How Did He Get Into the Discussion?, Arlington Sun Gazette, 2013-04-29. Retrieved on 2013-11-26. ““I hate those damn streetcars – they are a pain in the rear end,” Ford said in a newspaper article quoted by County Board member Libby Garvey as board members again tussled over the streetcar proposal at their April 23 meeting.”
5. ↑ Palma Strand, Robert G. Smith, Tim Cotman, Cheryl Robinson, Martha Swaim, Alvin Crawley (2011). Gaining on the Gap: Changing Hearts, Minds, and Practice. R&L Education. ISBN 9781610482905. Retrieved on 2016-05-19.
6. ↑ Chris Bateman. Morning Brew: Councillors pitch a Scarborough subway, city told to take over BIXI, Toronto is a top 5 food truck city, and Rob Ford makes news in Arlington, Virginia, BlogTO, 2013-04-30. Retrieved on 2016-05-22. “Finally, Rob Ford is making headlines in Arlington, Virginia for his anti-streetcar stance. There, County Board member Libby Garvey used a Ford quote ("I hate those damn streetcars - they are a pain in the rear end") during a recent discussion of the county's own "ongoing streetcar saga." Chris Zimmerman, another Arlington County Board member, noted that our mayor is "somewhat alone" in his opposition.”
7. ↑ Emily Senger. Toronto Mayor Rob Ford’s anti-streetcar views aired in Virginia county debate, Maclean's magazine, 2013-04-30. Retrieved on 2016-05-22. “Toronto Mayor Rob Ford’s dislike for streetcars has made its way across the border, where Ford’s past comments became part of a municipal debate in Arlington, Virginia about transit options. The exact Ford quote employed by Arlington County Board member Libby Garvey was: “I hate those damn streetcars – they are a pain in the rear end.””
8. ↑ Ben Spurr. Meet Virginia’s Rob Ford, Now magazine, 2013-04-30. Retrieved on 2013-11-26. “Armed with quotes from Toronto’s mayor, a local official in Arlington fights an uphill battle against a streetcar to the Pentagon.”
9. ↑ Conflict of Interest Charge Divides Arlington Board, NBC Washington, 2012-12-09. Retrieved on 2013-11-26. “Saturday, Board Chairwoman Mary Hynes, along with members Walter Tejada and Jay Fisette, released a statement saying they were "dismayed" that member Libby Garvey had released emails to the news media that requested the board's fifth member, Chris Zimmerman, to recuse himself from Monday's vote.”
10. ↑ Patricia Sullivan. Arlington board publicly rejects conflict-of-interest charge by fellow member, Washington Post, 2012-12-08. Retrieved on 2022-03-22. “Garvey has since said she favors a bus rapid transit system and pushed for a public, independent cost-benefit analysis of the streetcar project.”
11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Matt Blitz. Seven years since debut, how’s the region’s first rapid bus transit system faring?, Arlington Now, 2021-11-29. Retrieved on 2022-03-23. “What’s more, the county is investing further into the needed infrastructure. In September, the county unveiled designs to extend the Transitway by an additional five stations and 1.1 miles so that it connects with the Pentagon City Metro station (not to mention areas close to Amazon’s new HQ2).”