Monday, January 5, 2009

No development without a fixed rail solution.


It is no secret that the Washington Hospital Center is the most dense commuter destination not served by fixed rail.  This has been studied and documented by the DC Transportation Authority (see above).  Since this is public property, we DC taxpayers should have a say regarding the circumstances under which the developer will profit from turning this public green space into low-income housing and eight story buildings (ka-ching!).  It makes no sense to add ten thousand cars a day to one of the city's worst problem areas.  Only now does the community have any clout whatsover in this "cooperative" process.  If there is going to be such a massive, $1 billion taxpayer-subsidized project undertaken, we should insist on a fixed rail station serving the Hospital Center and Bloomingdale.