Florida Avenue Virtual Circle Multimodal Transportation Project Public Meeting

On Tuesday, April 4, 2017 from 6:30pm to 8:00pm, the District Department of Transportation will hold a public meeting to discuss concept designs for intersection of Florida Avenue and New York Avenue NE, "Virtual Circle".

The meeting will be held in the lobby of 1200 First Street NE.

Also known as Dave Thomas Circle, the meeting will discuss potential safety and practical improvements for pedestrians and bicyclists. The meeting will also discus streetscape deficiencies and improve vehicular circulation.

The design concepts developed by DDOT and its consultants will be presented to further refine the options considered, and complete this phase of the project. As one of the more progressive pieces of bike infrastructure in the District, an extension of the First Street NE Protected Bike lane as well as safer accommodations through the area for pedestrians would be a welcomed and complementary addition to the Metropolitan Branch Trail that runs parallel to it. In addition, the east / west bike and pedestrian travel along Florida Avenue is poor and hopefully will be addressed.

DDOT has come full circle with this intersection.

Decades ago, there were plans to extend the Center Leg Freeway above or below New York Avenue. In 2006, DDOT proposed a freeway style overpass. In 2014, Greater Greater Washington reported that a new study of pedestrian and bicycle safety along Florida Avenue NE was underway and that the “circle” and the nearby Wendy’s could become a simpler intersection and green space.

The most recent iteration of the Circle was discussed by DDOT in June of 2010 as shown in the video below, with most of the improvements completed as of December of that year.



Late last year, the Prince of Petworth blog noted that on some days, especially due to WMATA's Red line SafeTrack shuttle busing, the intersection becomes impossible to navigate.

Hopefully, the circle of Wendy will come to an end.