Photo by Sommer Mathis

As Greater Greater Washington reported earlier this morning, an 11th-hour change to D.C. Council Chairman Vincent Gray’s budget proposal axes the majority of funding for the planned H Street/Benning Rd. streetcar line.

Last night, Council supporters and DDOT officials went to sleep with the understanding that the final budget negotiations had preserved the streetcar.

The line had been approved by the Committee on Public Works and Transportation last week, but the final proposed Budget Support Act removes it and returns funding to some of the Great Streets streetscapes which DDOT said they could backfill with federal funds.

Council sources tell DCist that only a few million bucks appear to remain in Gray’s budget for the streetcar line, nowhere near enough to pay for the additional cars, terminal points, and planned connection to Union Station that will be necessary to get the H Street streetcar up and running. The removal of these funds would likely also jeopardize the District’s federal grant application to extend the line down Benning Road.

Whether there’s still time or even a way to save the streetcar project this year is unclear.

“There’s a lot of confusion down here this morning,” said one council staffer.