Washington, D.C.'s District Department of Transportation (DDOT) says overhead wire ("head span wire") will be put in place on the 2.2-mile H Street/Benning Road streetcar line, beginning Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2013.
The installation will clear the way for additional support of contact wire, which DDOT says will occur in the next phase of work.
Streetcar test runs are scheduled to commence in December, according to Program Manager Thomas Perry. Perry said engagement team has been deployed to make the neighborhood aware of upcoming changes and adjustments, including issuing warnings and tickets to double-parked cars.
Revenue operations are set to begin in 2014, though a specific opening date has not been set. The H Street/Benning Road line is part of the city's ambitious plan to eventually install 37 miles of streetcar lines to complement MetroRail service and the city's bike share program.
DDOT has three cars on order from Clackamas, Ore.-based United Streetcar, LLC for its H Street/Benning Road line, along with three other streetcars already on the property, delivered from Ostrava, Czech Republic-based Inekon Group a.s.