The Fairfax Board of Supervisors on Monday unanimously endorsed a plan to introduce streetcars along Columbia Pike.
The board’s action allows Fairfax and Arlington to begin discussions on how to pay for the project, how to design the streetcars and the plan’s environmental impact.
The Arlington County Board approved the plan last week.
Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Gerald Connolly said the endorsement does not include any commitment to finance it.
“We’re moving to the next step of the plan to come up with a financial strategy, determine its environmental impact,” Connolly said.
Columbia Pike, built between the 1930s and 1950s to accommodate the increasing use of cars, can support small retail shops and parking lots.
Arlington and Fairfax have struggled with how to handle the transportation and development needs of their growing populations and increase foot traffic along the road.
Connolly added that the board’s endorsement does not mean that streetcars are the panel’s main transportation concern.
“By agreeing to go to the next step, we’re not saying by implication that this is a top transportation priority,” he said.
Arlington County Board ChairmanChris Zimmerman said the Fairfax board’s endorsement allows discussions between the two communities on how to implement the project.
“This is a key threshold. This basically says, ‘Yes, we’re serious,’ ” Zimmerman said.
Plans for the redesign, which is expected to cost $120 million, are still in the early phases.
It calls for the streetcars to be used in conjunction with buses along a 5-mile stretch from Pentagon City to Skyline in Fairfax County.
The streetcars would run every five to six minutes, make four to five stops per mile and run in the same lanes as automobiles.
More details
» Streetcars would run about as often as Metro’s Blue and Yellow line trains.
» Sidewalks would double as streetcar platforms.
