Move aside, Pike Ride bus. The Arlington County Board has just granted $3 million in funding for environmental planning and preliminary design of the Columbia Pike Streetcar.
The approved funding and agreements between Fairfax County and Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority clear the way for Arlington and Fairfax Counties to start working on the project so it can qualify for federal funding.
The five-mile proposed streetcar line on Columbia Pike between Pentagon City and Skyline would run in mixed traffic, in the curb lane of the street. It is expected to move more people along the Pike than the current bus service.
Arlington and Fairfax Counties hope the project will help create a more pedestrian-friendly Main Street environment along Columbia Pike.
The approved $3 million in funding will come from the Transportation Investment Fund.
Arlington County expects that the state may reimburse as much as $1 million of that money under state capital formula reimbursement grant funds.
The Board also approved using $148,000 in WMATA Project Development Program funds allocated to Arlington County projects for the streetcar environmental planning and preliminary design. Under today’s agreements, costs for most tasks are split 80 percent to Arlington and 20 percent to Fairfax.
