The Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2E announced plans on Monday to improve road surfaces and preserve the historic trolley tracks on O and P Streets by replacing cobblestones.

According to ANC2E Commissioner Ron Lewis, the project follows a long investigation by the District Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration into the feasibility of the plans.

“This has been going on for years. The ANC has been a bystander. DDOT and the FHWA have taken five years to analyze the situation,” Lewis said.

According to Lewis, the process has been delayed because of concerns over maintaining the historic value of the cobblestones and trolley tracks.

“The streets are deteriorating badly. We don’t think they are safe. The controversy has been between safety and historical conservationism,” Lewis said.

On Monday, DDOT and the FHWA announced their decision and plans going forward. Construction is set to take place between 2010 and 2012.

“The cobblestones and trolley tracks will be removed temporarily in order to be refurbished. The base underneath the road will be strengthened. The tracks will then be replaced and the cobblestones will be placed more smoothly,” Lewis said.

The neighborhood will not have to pay for the project, which is set to cost $12 million. Instead, the funding will come from DDOT and federal funds, according to Lewis.

A source of concern is transit on O and P Streets while the construction is in progress. Lewis said the ANC hopes that Metrobuses will continue running normally.

“The ANC will press [DDOT] hard to keep the routes as is. . A problem is that the streets are narrow. Perhaps the buses will be able to run from 5 p.m. to 7 a.m. when construction is not going on. We have not yet heard from DDOT concerning the buses,” Lewis said.

According to the Citizens Association of Georgetown Web site, Georgetown “has the only visual remnants of the electrical streetcar system in the country, the depressed rails on O and P Streets.”