- Lots of news from Metro-land today. The Board of Directors gave the thumbs up to an agreement between WMATA and Virginia which, if approved by the Commonwealth (easier said than done), will allow the agency to splash $886 million on 428 new Series 7000 cars. Also, WMATA has a new website featuring easy to access details about its current and recently completed transit oriented development projects. Finally, 100 farecard machines have been upgraded to make it easier for customers to put the extra money they’ll need to cover recent fare increases on their SmarTrips.
- Does anyone have a consistent stance on streetcars? Greater Greater Washington notes that Councilmember Marion Barry, who has been critical of the H Street streetcar plan, has apparently forgotten that his very own mayoral administration planned a streetcar line down that same street back in 1997.
- Mark Segraves reports on a Cleveland Park man who is upset after DDOT misspelled his dead mother’s name in a letter notifying him that he has 90 days to remove a circular driveway in front of his house. I must admit, it’s unclear what a misspelling — which DDOT formally apologized for in a second letter — has to do with a driveway that has, according to Segraves, been “a source of controversy in the neighborhood since early 2006.”
- Two weeks after news broke about the Office of Risk Management’s failure to pay millions in insurance premiums, the Office of the Mayor finally took action today: City Administrator Neil Albert placed ORM Director Kelly Valentine on administrative leave today. Fenty general counsel Chip Richardson will serve as interim ORM director.
- Park View DC wonders whether the new CVS at Georgia and New Hampshire Avenues NW will be an annoying source of light pollution.
- Now tweeting: the District Department of the Environment.
Photo by jim_darling.
