Any planned streetcar line within historic Washington that features overhead power lines would violate federal law and threaten the open character and scenic views of D.C. streets, a regional planning body told District leaders Thursday.

D.C. is moving forward with a $1.3 million, four-stop streetcar demonstration project in Anacostia, which is outside the District’s historic center and will feature overhead power lines.

The city also is planning to lay streetcar tracks along H Street Northeast, though much of that corridor — as far east as Florida Avenue — falls within the historic L’Enfant City.

The city’s wide streets offer extraordinary views of monuments and other historic structures, said Lucy Kempf, community planner with the National Capital Planning Commission. The federal government passed laws in 1888 and 1889 to protect those vistas, she said, banning overhead utility and streetcar wires across a large swath of the nation’s capital, from Georgetown through L’Enfant City.

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Those laws, Kempf said, “are still in effect today” and allow the District to remain “one of the most significant wire-free networks in the world.” While the commission strongly supports the city’s goal of providing innovative transit options, she said, it cannot back streetcars featuring overhead power sources.

Emeka Moneme, director of the D.C. Department of Transportation, said the District is looking at several “propulsion technologies” for its streetcar program. Overhead lines “are still on the table” and are the most desirable option, he said, though a decision is still two years away.

DDOT has investigated numerous streetcar power systems, Moneme told the commission, from overhead wires in Portland, Ore., and an underground source in Bordeaux, France, to diesel cars in Camden, N.J. With overhead lines, he said, the cars are narrow and short in length, can navigate tight turns, operate easily in mixed traffic and have a “minimal visual impact.” And they’re cheaper: $3.5 million per car compared to $4.5 million for experimental systems.

“It needs to be able to fit and function in an urban environment,” Moneme said.

The District’s long-defunct streetcar system ran primarily on underground power. But Moneme dismissed that option, citing the possibility of pedestrians stepping on power sources and being electrocuted.

mneibauer@dcexaminer.com