D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser held a rally to build support for a downtown transit project that would help alleviate traffic and move buses more efficiently along K Street NW. But some members of the D.C. Council believe the money for the project should go toward funding free Metrobus service instead.
The project to efficiently and quickly move Metrobuses along a 10-block stretch of K Street would take about three years to complete and cost about $116 million.
“We have to be smart right now to make the types of investments for the long term,” Bowser said.
The mayor has the support of Ward 2 Council member Brooke Pinto and the downtown business improvement district.
We've got the news you need to know to start your day. Sign up for the First & 4Most morning newsletter — delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up here.
But D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson said he’s heard from a number of people who say they don’t want it.
“Office building owners, some organizations that represent commercial activity or retail activity, it’s the last thing they want is to see the street in front of their business torn up for two years,” he said.
Mendelson said it’s not the time to start a project when downtown D.C. is still making a comeback.
Transportation
Reporter Adam Tuss and the News4 team are covering you down on the roads and in transit.
But the mayor said it’s exactly the time to do it while downtown traffic is not at the level it was before the pandemic.
The D.C. Council’s Transportation Committee already voted to kill the project and put the funds toward a plan to offer free Metrobus service.
Mendelson said Metro General Manager Randy Clarke supports the free bus service plan, but the Metro board is another question.
“With regard to the board, I don’t know,” Mendelson said. “I have not talked to the board.”
The D.C. Council voted unanimously in favor of free buses last year, but in recent months the chief operating officer said the money will not be there to fund it.
News4 sends breaking news stories by email. Go here to sign up to get breaking news alerts in your inbox.