D.C. Streetcar To Make Long-Awaited First Appearance [View all]

[font size="1"]D.C.'s first streetcar in 50 years will run...well, sometime in 2014. (D.C. DOT)[/font]


The first streetcar to glide down tracks in Washington in half a century will make its first appearance Friday, as the District Department of Transportation intends to transfer one of its new streetcars from its Anacostia test track to the H Street/Benning Road NE corridor.

Contractors worked on Wednesday to finish fastening the overhead power lines that will power the 2.4-mile streetcar line through the busy commercial corridor. Construction workers were lifted from street level in bucket trucks to reach the wiring running both parallel and perpendicular to H Street, while other workers used a high power vacuum to suck out the sludge clogging the yet-to-be-used streetcar tracks. DDOT also deployed a “hi-rail” car to make sure the real streetcar will fit through the corridor by simulating its actual size.

“The hi-rail vehicle basically helps to confirm the clearances that are present within the corridor,” said DDOT project manager Thomas Perry. “It makes sure the streetcar can properly fit against the [platform] stops.”

The hi-rail car moved slowly down H Street and Benning Road, clearing cars parked against the curb on its right. Perry said the size of some of the platforms had to be adjusted. .................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.wnyc.org/story/dc-streetcar-make-long-awaited-appearance-you-still-cant-ride-it/