Here's the most recent Washington Post article that I could locate on the subject. According to an earlier article, ground was broken on the Anacostia project in November 2004 and it was supposed to be finished in 2006.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 01293.html
Light-Rail Plan Irks Anacostia Residents
By David Nakamura
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, May 1, 2005; C01
Community leaders in Anacostia reacted skeptically yesterday to news that District transportation officials intend to push a plan to run light-rail trains along neighborhood streets, arguing that the setup would produce more problems than benefits.
The plan to operate the trains on streets near a 2.2-mile stretch of the Anacostia waterfront in Ward 8 was announced last week. It marked a drastic change to the city's original plan to pay $16 million to CSX Transportation Inc. for 2.7 miles of right of way between the foot of the John Philip Sousa Bridge, which carries Pennsylvania Avenue SE, and Bolling Air Force Base. City officials nixed the deal after learning that CSX does not own all the right of way.
The neighborhood route would run from Pennsylvania and Minnesota avenues SE along Minnesota to Good Hope Road and continue to Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue and then along Howard Road to Firth Sterling Avenue and end at Bolling.
Activists peppered city and Metro officials with questions about the plan at yesterday's meeting at the United House of Prayer for All People on Howard Road SE. They said they feared that any benefit the light-rail line might bring to the community would be outweighed by increased traffic, reduced curbside parking and a negative impact on long-sought economic development.
"It's not fair when we're trying to get economic development here and you tear up our streets," said Lendia Johnson, an Advisory Neighborhood Commission member. "We have so much traffic already. Trying to get down Martin Luther King Avenue is like trying to cross the Jordan River."
Dan Tangherlini, the District's transportation director, acknowledged that officials do not know what impact a light-rail system would have on the community. Officials have studied similar operations in Portland, Ore., and Tacoma, Wash., where, they said, such trains have been a success.
The idea, Tangherlini said, is to transport residents within the ward. Previously, he added, the city had concentrated mostly on moving people between the District and neighboring suburbs.
Tangherlini said the train cars are longer but thinner than city buses and can make turns on narrow streets more easily than buses.
"This rail is not intended to be in the place of buses," said Tomika Hughey, a member of Metro's planning office. "It's a demonstration project. . . . It's intended to complement the buses."
The light rail is scheduled to begin operating next year.
Community leaders said they worry that the light-rail line will be a greater benefit for workers at nearby Bolling Air Force Base or the Navy Yard than for those who live in Ward 8.
"It comes down to one question that has not been answered: What is the economic development impact for Ward 8?" said Jackie Ward, who lives in the community. "I see it for the Navy Yard and Bolling, but I do not see the economic impact for Ward 8."
Maurice Perry, a member of East of the River Community Development Corp., said any light-rail system would "need to maintain parking on the street for the small-business owners."
Tangherlini, who said similar light-rail lines could be brought to more than 35 miles of city streets, said he chose to put a light-rail system in Ward 8 in response to criticism that major city projects do not take place east of the Anacostia River. He told the crowd that transportation officials will hold additional community meetings before making any final decisions.
"I thought it would be a good message to keep this here," Tangherlini said. "But if folks really, really, really don't want it, that's a message we'll take away, and we'll see if somebody else wants it."
