Georgetown Gets a Bunch of Bids for Rosslyn Gondola: Report

Eight proposals have been submitted for the project to create a gondola to connect Rosslyn and Georgetown.

The Georgetown Business Improvement District told UrbanTurf that it had received "eight excellent responses" to a February request for proposals, and a decision should be coming at the end of April.

The Georgetown BID is trying to determine the feasibility of a gondola lift that would connect Georgetown, which has long suffered without Metrorail access, to the Metro system via Rosslyn across the Potomac river, according to the RFP.

The Georgetown BID is organizing stakeholders about the potential issues of such a connection, with the DC Surface Transit serving as the administrative and fiscal agent for the proposed project.

"An aerial gondola lift has been suggested for study because of this mode’s unique ability to provide a reliable, low-headway, distinctive, and attractive means of connecting Georgetown directly to Rosslyn and the regional rail network at a small fraction of the cost or time of extending Metro," the RFP reads.

The aim of the study is to "identify the optimum means of connecting Georgetown to the Rosslyn Metrorail Station via an aerial gondola lift; and to identify costs, regulatory requirements, financing mechanisms, ridership estimates, design choices, real estate considerations, and timetables associated with the recommended approach."