Famous Landmark Set for Major Facelift

WASHINGTON - A road that has been around since the early 1900's is being prepped for a major makeover.

The D.C. Department of Transportation tells WTOP that starting in the fall, an extensive reconstruction project will begin on Columbus Circle in front of Union Station.

"We're really looking to dramatically change that place, so that the taxi, bus, pedestrian and vehicular circulation is improved, as well as getting increased park space," says John Deatrick, chief engineer and deputy director of D-DOT.

Union Station itself opened in 1907, and it continues to be one of the most-visited landmarks in the nation's capital with over 32 million visitors a year. And most of that traffic -- either on foot, by car, or on a bike -- uses Columbus Circle.

"The road is falling apart and there's also horrible pedestrian circulation problems," Deatrick says. "People trying to cross the street can't get to where they need to go."

In addition to better traffic and pedestrian flow, Deatrick says a bicycle center will also be built.

"We're actually going to have a facility built right about where the existing bike racks are to allow people to store their bikes, but also rent bikes."

The go-ahead for the project needs to get one final blessing from the National Capital Planning Commission and the Commission of Fine Arts.

"They have seen the preliminary plans and they gave us preliminary approval. This time it's just going back to them and showing them the final mock-ups and all of that," says Said Cherifi with D-DOT, who is also working closely on the project.

"We anticipate that approval to come very quickly."

Preliminary figures put the cost of the reconstruction around $7 million. Once the work starts, it is expected to last 18 to 24 months, which means the circle should be completely redone by 2009.

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