Trolley Service Will Not Debut at First Thursday
DRBA President says free motorized trolley could be demonstrated later in May.
Trolley service will not debut on Mt. Vernon Avenue during this week’s First Thursday street festival.
Del Ray Business Association President Maria Wasowski said the city had previously made a commitment to demonstrate the motorized trolley at the first First Thursday of 2012.
However, discussions of the trolley’s regular service route, particularly how far north into Arlandria the free trolley should travel, have temporarily stalled the project.
“The folks at [Alexandria’s Department of Transportation and Environmental Services] feel that they have to have the route figured out before they run the trolley on First Thursday, so we won't have it this month,” Wasowski wrote in an email. “We hope to have a trolley running during the June First Thursday.”
In March, members of the Arlandria-Chirilagua Business Association questioned a proposed route that ends at Reed Avenue, just south of most of Arlandria’s shops and restaurants (see attached photo).
Earlier this month, members of Alexandria City Council raised similar concerns about the route, the proposed name of the service and a lack of communication with stakeholders.
Wasowski said there’s talk of potentially demonstrating the trolley on May 19, a busy, event-filled Saturday in Del Ray with the Kelley Cares 5K, the Del Ray House and Garden Tour and the first Cinema Del Ray screening of the year.