The folks over at Dulles Metro extension are breaking out the construction tools … and the credit cards. $900 million of the $2.83 billion price tag of the initial 11.6-mile leg is in that Transportation Department spending bill tied up in Congress and under threat of veto by President Bush. But with or without the money, officials plan to start work, reports The Examiner. Is it just us, or does this violate everything you ever…

Anyone who’s lived in D.C. for more than a minute or two knows that appearances are important in this town, but is it reasonable to suggest that the changing face of Metro will have an impact on ridership? Also this week, a fare hike fight gradually takes shape, and another area bridge is going out of commission. If you were one of the 500,000 or so passengers who took Metro to the Mall on…

We don’t enjoy wallowing over desperately ironic turns of events in the Metro region here at Transit on Thursday. OK, that’s a lie. But we do sympathize with the folks who it turns out may have gotten duped by the Great Virginia Commuter Compromise of 2006-2007. Also this week, new lanes approved for the Beltway, 95, and 66, while Maryland comes up a little short on its own transportation funds. Photo by el swifterino…

While D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty officially pays tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. today at the University of the District of Columbia, one question comes to mind — how well has the District actually guarded and promoted King’s legacy? Given the state of a library and an avenue named after the famed civil rights fighter, not too well. The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library stands as a contradiction at the corner of Ninth…

When the new span of the Wilson Bridge was first opened, the Washington Post published an editorial asking, “What’s next?” Given this area’s staggering growth rate, we’re all in serious trouble if another 35 years goes by without another new bridge. Yet there is no active planning for another Potomac crossing.That may be true for the Potomac, but when it comes to D.C.’s other river, plans are moving rapidly forward for reconstruction of the 11th…

The Washington Post reports today that the groundbreaking ceremony for the Pentagon Memorial, commemorating those that died on September 11th, has been scheduled for June 15. The design includes 184 benches, each one engraved with the name and birth year of someone who perished in the Pentagon or on Flight 77, cantilevered over small reflecting pools. Located at the building’s southwest corner, the memorial will occupy 1.93 acres and cost approximately $17.5 million to build….

Every time we crossed the 14th Street Bridge, we wondered what the rotating bar atop the Crystal City Doubletree was like. This week we decided to stop wondering, and hazard the post-urban tangle of freeways around Crystal City on foot to check it out. After some Googling we found out the hotel calls the bar the Skydome Lounge, and that it’s a bar with light fare during the week and restaurant on weekends. At worst,…

We spend plenty of time complaining about the state of the region’s public transit network, be it delays on Metrorail, unpredictable arrival times for Metrobuses, or just too much traffic along area roadways. But at least we don’t have to hitchhike to work. Today the Post features an entertaining feature on John Schindel, a Stafford County man whose decade-old DUI conviction has left him at the mercy of fellow motorists to get him to and…

DCist has been sent some unsubstantiated celebrity sightings from this weekend. We put our fact checkers hot on the confirmation trail, but really, celebrity sightings are more intriguing gossip than serious journalistic news, so we’ve decided to go straight to you, our eyes and ears on the ground. So dish already. Here are the details as we know them right now: On Saturday, the D.C. Office of Motion Picture and Television Development hosted an open…

Good morning Washington, the weather will be in the 60s and sunny with the next 10 days “consistently average,” says Capital Weather. This photo of the Hirshhorn is from Justin DC, posted in DCist Photos via Flickr. Serial Arsonist Caught: Authorities say that the serial arsonist who has plagued parts of the District, Virginia and Maryland has been caught. Read about this big story in the Post, W.Times and the Examiner. According to investigators, a…