The Anacostia streetcar will be delayed until 2012. According to the Post, the delay is due to planning associated with the modified route championed by DC Councilman Jim Graham.

As BeyondDC has noted before, Graham’s new route is legitimately better than the old one, but why did it take Mr. Graham so long to get involved in the project? If he’d brought forward his objections in 2005 when DDOT was going through its planning process and initially decided on a route, rather than in 2008 when it was preparing for final construction, we’d most likely still be on schedule now. If there’s any reason why Graham waited until the 11th hour, it hasn’t been made public.

PS: To be fair, Graham also championed the new 14th Street Circulator, which I heaped praise upon the other day.