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Washington D.C. plans $26B rail investment as Cincinnati moves on first

Washington D.C. plans $26B rail investment as Cincinnati moves on first.

As Cincinnati moves forward with construction of the region’s first rail transit, many residents are now looking forward to what might be next, and how to best connect the growing metropolitan area via rail. Meanwhile, in the nation’s capital, the Washington D.C. Metro has proposed $26 billion worth of upgrades to its already extensive system. More from the Washington Post:

Metro’s top managers are proposing a new rail tunnel under the center of the District, a second tunnel under the Potomac, and they estimate the transit agency will need $26 billion over the next three decades to pay for those and other improvements to an aging system that is falling behind the region’s needs.

The proposed new rail tunnels — one under 10th Street to Thomas Circle and another between Rosslyn and Georgetown and on to Thomas Circle — would be massive undertakings. The projects would require major financial commitments from local and federal governments and would take several years to plan and several more years to complete.

By Randy A. Simes

Randy is an award-winning urban planner who founded UrbanCincy in May 2007. He grew up on Cincinnati’s west side in Covedale, and graduated from the University of Cincinnati’s nationally acclaimed School of Planning in June 2009. In addition to maintaining ownership and serving as the managing editor for UrbanCincy, Randy has worked professionally as a planning consultant throughout the United States, Korea and the Middle East. After brief stints in Atlanta and Chicago, he currently lives in the Daechi neighborhood of Seoul’s Gangnam district.