Washington Circle

Description

Washington Circle is a traffic circle in the northwest quadrant of Washington, D.C., United States. It is located on the border of the Foggy Bottom and West End neighborhoods, which is a part of the Ward 2 section in Washington. It is the intersection of 23rd Street, K Street, New Hampshire Avenue, and Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. The through lanes of K Street (which are U.S. Route 29) travel underneath the circle in a tunnel, while the service lanes intersect the circle.HistoryEarly- to mid-19th centuryWashington Circle was first drawn on Pierre L’Enfant’s map in 1791 . Looking at L’Enfant’s Map, one can see that streets were laid in form of grids and there were many intersections around the circle. In addition to the street grids, there are a couple of other circles beside the circle. These features indicate the strategic positioning of the circle within the city. The circle intersects four major roads. On the northeastern side of the circle there’s a vista along New Hampshire Avenue that leads to DuPont Circle while on the southeastern side, there is another pleasant vista from Pennsylvania avenue that leads to the White house. The circle also intersects 23rd and K streets.