Streetcars update, coming early 2012

The ANCs, Tommy Wells, and DDOT put on a pretty interesting meeting last night to approximately 100 attendees regarding streetcar development on H Street. The short of it is that there is real reason to expect the streetcars to be running from Union Station at 1st Street up through a hole in the hopskotch bridge and down H Street to Benning Road by early 2012. At the meeting, they showed the plans for punching a hole in the middle of the bridge, the connection to Union Station at 1st and H, where the maintaince facilities are (under the bridge) and a turn around at Benning Road/Oklahoma Ave, and explained that everything should be fully operational by Spring 2012. They also talked a lot about their expansion efforts and there will likely be a technology showcase for wireless/wire systems in the next few months.