Where is Truxton Circle?
Truxton Circle, Lincoln Road is at the top of the photo.
You’ve seen the streetpole banners on Florida Avenue designating the area around North Capitol Street as Truxton Circle. But exactly where is the circle? The circle, pictured above, used to sit right there at the convergence of North Capital Street, Florida Avenue, Q Street, and Lincoln Road.
Urban planning blogger Richard Layman spotted a diagram of the old circle posted on the wall at the offices of DDOT.
Truxton Circle Diagram, Source: Richard Layman
In 1940 the District removed the circle and replaced it with a traditional intersection that failed, and continues to fail, to match the elegance of the original circle pictured at the top of this post.
A quick perusal of the DC Atlas, the District’s main online map product, reveals the circle’s imprint on the properties just north of Florida Avenue. It seems that the property lines still accommodate the circle.
Great Truxton's ghost! Proptery lines still show outer limit of the old circle.
Perhaps DDOT will one day resurrect the circle after its seventy-year absence. In 2006, DDOT restored downtown’s Thomas Circle to its original shape, eliminating the almond-shaped cut-through for Fourteenth Street. In the 1980s the District similarly restored Logan Circle, eliminating the Thirteenth Street cut-through. Here in LeDroit Park, Third Street bisected Anna J. Cooper Circle until the District in 1984 restored it to its original circular shape.
i like the idea of a circle, but i’d also be concerned about its practicality. its a much smaller diameter than most circles, except for those on residential streets. is there a comparable circle?
the traffic going west on florida would have to take a wicked right hand turn to get into the circle. the upcoming streetcar line would have a tough time with that turn too, i assume.
and it looks like it would make pedestrian crossing more difficult.
It certainly did look beautiful though, and I would love to see that statue recovered and restored.
The original photo had street car lines in the pavement that take the same sharp turns so that shoudlnt’ be an issue. the buildings NE of the circle still exist today so no residences should be affected.
I would love to see this brought back. I live just a few blocks away.
johndc,
the old streetcar line went along north capitol, not florida.
that curve is far softer.
[...] Truxton Circle – Getting to the bottom of the where there actual cricle in Truxton Circle is? [Left for Ledroit] [...]
It looks to me as if through traffic on Florida continued on Florida, and did not need to go around the circle. The circle was offset, so only traffic going north to North Capital, Lincoln, or Q street would route around the circle.
Keep Lincoln one-way and Q-street does not get much traffic. No expert, but I’d guess it would flow pretty well. Better than what we have now. I hate that intersection.
My mother, now 86, grew up in Eckington on Quincy Place and later on R Street, NE, down the street from Truxton Circle. She said that it was beautiful, and North Capitol Street, completely tree-lined, was equally a pleasant. She has mentioned on more than one occasion how North Capitol Street was ruined by the road “improvements” in the 1940s. I would love to see the Circle replaced.
– KJP
i looks at the larger version of the phot and indeed, westbound florida ave traffic stayed on florida.
so there would need to still be traffic lights.
what advantages, besides beauty, would the circle have on traffic? it seems it wouldn’t change the dynamics at all. it would really only effect west bound quincy road travelers and north bound north cap drivers trying to get to florida.
also, what advantages would it have for pedestrians? considering the amout of traffic, there would need to be crosswalks and signals to access the park. it would definitely have a cool ass view. otherwise, crossing the streets would not be safer or easier. i can’t think of one circle that is safer for pedestrians than a basic 4 way intersection.
really, to make this intersection better, you have to look a bit to the north and to the south. fill the trenches.
The District still has the old Fountain in Storage!!
How would this effect the bus stops and the routes that travel along there; if the circle was restored would there be space for the 80, P6, 90 & 92 stops there this is a transfer stop between all of those buses and how would they be effected.
How would this effect crossing the circle; when there was a circle the traffic of personal vechiles was probably lower so how will this effect people walking across T, North Cap. Streets or Florida Ave it seems like the distance would be doubled with no benefit to them.
I think it would be lovely to replace the circle. I grew up on a parkway in Buffalo, NY with 2 traffic circles and it works well and creates a great neighborhood feeling rather than a highway.
It seems that the traffic on Florida would navigate the circle quite nicely. I would be more concerned with N. Capitol. Perhaps an underpass like that at Dupont Cir? I do not hink the underpass at Dupont is too obtrusive, although the topography is different. Not an ideal solution to traffic but perhaps necessary. In turn, the underpasses at Rhode Island and New York Aves should be eliminated. Caveat: New York Ave’s underpass if the re-routing of I-395 away from the central area of downtown occurs. The one at Rhode Island to badly divides the neighborhood, whereas Bus stops could be moved to safer and new carve outs up/down N. Cap and Florida. In the very least, from a historical standpoint and in acknowledgment of the history of the area and of the contribution of Admiral Truxton (arguablly as significant as Admiral Dupont), the Circle deserves to be re-stationed. Why should Northwest get all the Le’Enfant-style circles?
I own three circa 1910 real-photo postcards views of Truxton Circle. The photogrgaphs were taken by Willard R. Ross (1860-1948) who lived at 39 Que Street, NE.
If you contact me I’ll email the images to you for posting on this bolg entry.
Jerry
Has anyone proposed covering the NCS underpasses beneath RIA and NYA?
IIRC there was a recent DC proposal for a NCS tunnel beneath a restored Truxton Circle.