Monumentality suggests a circle (technically a modern roundabout) for the intersection of 15th, New Hampshire, and Florida Avenues NW, at the bottom of Meridian Hill Park. The far-too-wide 15th meets these avenues in a giant intersection with too many lanes, long crossing distances for pedestrians, and hazardous bicycling. How about a circle?

Image from Monumentality.

As a matter of fact, others have suggested this. After the recent 15th Street meeting, one resident asked about the idea. According to some participants, NCPC has frowned on the idea because it’s not in keeping with the L’Enfant Plan.

This was all hearsay, but it’s not the first good idea swatted down on the grounds that “NCPC wouldn’t agree.” At the 17th Street streetscape meetings, some said NCPC wouldn’t allow restoring 17th to two-way because of L’Enfant either. If true, that’s silly. In L’Enfant’s day, the roads weren’t even paved. 15th Street wasn’t as wide as it is now, nor was it two-way. Neither was 17th. (There’s a better reason why a two-way 17th would be challenging: most of the businesses load from the street, and with one lane each way we’d block a whole direction. It could work fine if we take away some parking to make more loading zones, but that would be politically unpopular.)

Some said that NCPC has also objected to bulb-outs, conisdering them a suburban element in an urban setting. If so, that’s simply ignorance. Still, I don’t have any direct quotes from NCPC on any of these topics, and shouldn’t condemn their views until we know for sure what they are.

Back to Monumentality’s drawing: a roundabout is a great idea, but we should also make room for bicycles, which this doesn’t. DDOT is considering new bicycle facilities on both New Hampshire and 15th, since both are wide streets with relatively low traffic. This is a great place to encourage bicycling, keeping cyclists away from the crowded 16th Street nearby and providing a safe way for residents of the neighborhoods up the hill to get to Dupont and downtown.

If any traffic pattern is iconically Washington, DC, it’s the circle. Let’s build some.