Transportation bill authorizes funding for preliminary rail studies

Thursday, Sept. 8, 2005

The Campaign to Reinvest in the Heart of Oxon Hill is working on the next step to encourage construction of a rail system across the new Woodrow Wilson Bridge after funding for preliminary engineering of a transit route over the bridge was recently authorized.

In July, Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) announced that funding for transit studies would be authorized through a new 6-year transportation spending bill.

The Campaign to Reinvest in the Heart of Oxon Hill has been working for five years to bring rail transit to the area. Bonnie Bick, the group’s co-founder, said the funding for engineering and transit studies would be a first step to bringing a rail transit system across the bridge.

‘‘Our next year’s challenge is to get the money,” she said. ‘‘It [rail transit] is a major link in the Metro transit infrastructure. It will influence the entire region.”

The new Woodrow Wilson Bridge was designed to accommodate future rail transit—with two of its 12 lanes to be dedicated to mass transit or high occupancy vehicles—but additional studies and engineering are required before rail transit can be implemented, according to a press release from Mikulski’s office.

When the use of the lanes in question is ultimately decided, Bick said it could affect area transit trends. ‘‘Does the domino fall toward public transit, or does the domino fall toward highways?” she asked, adding that she would like to see the rail system built as construction on the bridge moves forward.

‘‘When they build the second bridge, we want the rail to be laid down on the second bridge as they’re building it,” Bick said, adding that the group has the opportunity now to lobby for construction funding.

Donna Edwards, campaign co-founder, said construction on the rail transit system must happen during bridge construction, or a rail system may never be put in place. ‘‘We need our elected officials to emerge in a real strategic approach to get the funding,” she said, adding that officials must ensure that money is appropriated to fund the project. ‘‘Authorization won’t mean anything if we don’t get the money [to build the rail system].”

Michelle Holland, spokesperson with the bridge project, said construction on the bridge is moving forward and the project is doing everything it can to accommodate future rail, bus or high-occupancy vehicles.

‘‘The project is being built to accommodate those options, however, building the rail system is outside the scope,” she said, adding that the construction of a rail system would have to be funded and studied from environmental and feasibility angles, which would take additional time.

‘‘Our project is already 40 percent complete,” Holland said, estimating that completion of the southern span of the project would be in mid-2006, with the northern span to be completed in mid-2008.

Mikulski, who worked with Sen. Paul S. Sarbanes (D-Md.) on the transit bill, is also looking toward the future. ‘‘I’m pleased that this bill provides funding to take us a step closer to understanding the transit needs of our region,” she said in an e-mail. ‘‘With record high gas prices, our region needs to consider all transportation alternatives. That means safer and faster commutes to work, better air quality, jobs today and jobs tomorrow.”

Bick said the campaign, which represents 2,000 members, will continue to work to raise awareness for the importance of a rail transit system in the area. She and other campaign members are looking forward to their fifth annual Metro Festival on Oct. 15, which Bick said would raise residents’ awareness for the necessity of obtaining funding for a rail system.

‘‘We need to be moving toward public transportation because it’s clear that gas prices are not going down,” she said. ‘‘It’s a pivotal regional issue.”

Edwards added that the National Harbor project, combined with other area development, is already causing traffic problems on and around area highways. ‘‘[Metro rail] is part of our economic future as well as our quality of life future,” she said. ‘‘Our area is begging—screaming—for Metro rail transit to support the development. ...[If there is no public transportation] I believe that the development will fail.”

E-mail Leslie Quander Wooldridge at lwooldridge@gazette.net.