June 20, 2013

Cheh, Wells maneuvering around Barry's objections to H Street trolley contract

BY: LIZ FARMER JUNE 21, 2012 | 2:05 PM
Leave a comment
Photo - D.C. Councilman Marion Barry has withdrawn his opposition to a contract to finish the H Street streetcar line. (Examiner file photo)
D.C. Councilman Marion Barry has withdrawn his opposition to a contract to finish the H Street streetcar line. (Examiner file photo)

D.C. Council members Tommy Wells and Mary Cheh are trying to work around colleague Marion Barry's objections to a contract for the highly anticipated streetcar proposed for H Street.

The two submitted a contract approval resolution on Wednesday for immediate approval of the $50 million contract with Dean-Facchina LLC that would override Barry's disapproval resolution the Ward 8 councilman submitted earlier this week. Barry's resolution threatens to stall by more than one month the already-delayed H Street line.

Barry was even part of the original push in 1997 when he was mayor to bring back an iteration of the District's formerly extensive trolley line. But now, the original line proposed for Anacostia in Ward 8 remains in flux without a start date while the H Street line is slated to open next year.

Barry denied to The Washington Examiner on Tuesday that his resolution was due to the H Street line leapfrogging ahead of the Anacostia one.

Cheh and Wells' resolution is set to be voted on by the full council on Tuesday.

lfarmer@washingtonexaminer.com

View article comments Leave a comment
Author:

Liz Farmer

Examiner Staff Writer
The Washington Examiner

More from washingtonexaminer.com

Related Articles

From the Weekly Standard

  • June 17, 1953

    Today, speaking at the Brandenburg Gate, President Obama paid appropriate tribute to the brave East Germans who rebelled 60 years ago against Communist dictatorship:

    Read More...
  • Problems of the Second Generation

    The Boston Marathon bombings highlighted, once again, the challenges of assimilating Muslim youth. And while the onus of accountability ought not rest exclusively on Muslim Americans, it...

    Read More...
  • Release Osama Bin Laden’s Files on Taliban

    The Obama administration announced on Tuesday that it was moving forward with its attempt to negotiate with the Taliban, which has opened a long-awaited political office in Doha, Qatar. The...

    Read More...