Breakfast links: During this summer’s Blue and Yellow line shutdown, try buses or water taxis
Shuttles, water taxis, and other solutions proposed for this summer’s shutdown
From Memorial Day to Labor Day 2019, about 17,000 Blue and Yellow line Metro riders will be affected by the three-month closure of six stations in Virginia from Braddock Road to Franconia-Springfield. WMATA and local governments are working to shore up transportation alternatives. (Emily Sullivan / DCist)
Metro is inching toward automatic train operation, starting with opening doors
Metro is testing automatic door opening on trains, which is the first step in the transit agency’s move back to automatic train operation (ATO). Metro suspended ATO after the fatal 2009 collision at Fort Totten, although ATO was not at fault for the crash. (Natalie Delgadillo / DCist)
DC’s Galludet University takes DeafSpace Design into the city
Gallaudet University, an early pioneer in the DeafSpace Design principles, is working with developer JBG Smith to build 1.2 million square feet of residential, office, and retail space near its DC campus and Union Market that includes 5,000 square feet set aside for deaf-owned businesses. (Kim A. O’Connell / CityLab)
Crystal City is preparing for HQ2 by evaluating transportation improvements
In addition to large-scale infrastructure improvements such as a new Metro station entrance and remodeled VRE station, Crystal City is making smaller, block-by-block improvements to its street network to prepare for Amazon's HQ2. (D. Taylor Reich / ARLnow)
A proposed tax cut for DC homeowners may cost $38 million
DC Councilmember Brandon Todd has proposed expanding the homestead deduction, which reduces the assessed taxable value of an owner-occupied home in the district. The DC Fiscal Policy Institute has advocated against the proposal. (Martin Austermuhle / WAMU)
Construction will begin on a six-story apartment building in downtown Bethesda
Construction is scheduled to begin in March on a six-story, 229-unit apartment complex near Bethesda Elementary that will include a range of studio to three-bedroom units. The projecgt is expected to be completed by summer 2021. (Bethesda Beat)
DC residents are having the fewest babies
The national average is 1.8 children per mother while in the District that number is 1.4, the lowest in the nation but comparable to other urban areas, a report by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics found. (Elly Yu / WAMU)
51% of Maryland voters oppose offering a gender-neutral option for driver’s licenses
Legislation approved by the Maryland Senate last month would require the state to issue licenses or ID cards that show an individual as “M” for male, an “F” for female, or “X” for those who identify neither as male nor female. The legislation is awaiting a vote in the House of Delegates. (Ovetta Wiggins / Post)
Have a tip for the links? Submit it here.