Designs for Dupont Circle pedestrian plaza to be discussed at June 25 meeting

City transportation officials will present refined concepts for a pedestrian plaza in Dupont Circle, proposed to be built on Connecticut Avenue NW between the neighborhood’s traffic circle and Q Street NW, at a June 25 public meeting. The plaza would serve as a new public space for residents and visitors and feature special events like outdoor markets and movies. It would be developed on a deck to be installed over car lanes that run under Dupont Circle.

The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) will also discuss streetscape changes in the project area. These will “enhance pedestrian, bicycle, transit and vehicular travel ... by rebuilding curbs, gutters, sidewalks and pedestrian ramps,” according to DDOT. They may include “curb bulb-outs and pedestrian refuge islands, improved drainage structures, and new streetlights, traffic signals, and crosswalks.” The entire project spans 2,600 linear feet.

The meeting is scheduled to take place from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Dupont Circle Hotel. It follows a previous public meeting in April 2018, where DDOT showed preliminary concepts and gathered community feedback that the agency says it has incorporated into the project.

The project is a priority for the Dupont Circle Business Improvement District, which was established last year and is directed by former DDOT manager Colleen Hawkinson. (She previously worked on the city’s long-term mobility plan, moveDC.) The plaza in particular has the potential to materially reshape and bring new energy to the historic neighborhood.

Below are the plaza and streetscape concepts that were revealed at the April 2018 meeting.

District Department of Transportation

District Department of Transportation

District Department of Transportation

District Department of Transportation

District Department of Transportation

District Department of Transportation