Reimagining North Capitol Crossroads
North Capitol Crossroads aerial map that highlights major streets, major landmarks, and surrounding neighborhoods.
Today, the intersection of North Capitol and Irving is designed to move cars through the city as quickly as possible. The District’s Comprehensive Plan envisions transforming this area into a connected, well-designed, and multi-modal neighborhood.
The DC Office of Planning highlights a few opportunities to reimagine North Capitol Crossroads as a more open environment anchored by places to live, work, visit, and heal.
Each of the opportunities aim to link surrounding neighborhoods with healthcare, educational, and religious institutions while elevating the area’s cultural heritage.
Four Transformational Opportunities
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1. Garden Gateway: An iconic park framed with mixed-income apartments
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2. North Capitol Bridge Top: A green corridor with a mix of uses that connect existing institutions with community hubs
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3. First Street NW Connector: A link that connects neighborhoods, jobs, parks, and history
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4. Michigan Ave and Irving Street NE: A hub of institutions with apartments, shops, and places to gather
North Capitol Crossroads Today
North Capitol Crossroads consists of more than 600 acres and is located less than three miles from the US Capitol. Transforming the Crossroads unlocks the opportunity to connect the surrounding communities to the area’s amenities, including hospitals, universities, and large open spaces. Its proximity to the region’s economic and entertainment cores also makes it an opportune location for more mixed-income housing options.
Opening day at Reservoir Park Recreation and Aquatic Center. Washington Post, June 15, 2024.
Rendering of the planned residential and retail development at Reservoir District. reservoirdistrict.com, 2024.
live, heal: An iconic park framed with mixed-income apartments
1. Garden Gateway
Wangari Gardens is a beloved neighborhood open space that is surrounded by multiple high-speed roadways. It is cared for and organized by residents who describe the gardens as “a community hub and a small green oasis.”
Opportunity: Reimagine Wangari Gardens as a gateway park framed by a street designed for pedestrians, bicyclists, buses, and cars with new mixed-income small apartment buildings to the north and south. An improved park could enhance informal pathways and better connect existing residential neighborhoods, such as Park View, new communities in the Crossroads, and the hospitals with dedicated spaces for socializing, play, and passive recreation. Expanding the green space would also allow for more garden plots to serve the growing waitlist.
In the future, Garden Gateway could be where you live or meet up with your neighbors in a tranquil park.
This artist’s rendering depicts how this area might look in the future including where new apartments could be added along Armed Forces Retirement Home’s Kenyon St NW frontage and on District land that reduces three redundant roadways into one. The gardens are complemented by a new park. The image looks east along Irving Street NW from Park Place NW toward the Catholic University of America.
A present-day aerial of the site with the existing roadways and buildings layered with potential new development areas highlighted in orange. The dotted red lines depict the redundant roadways that could be reduced to the one dotted black line.
Inspiration: Nachbarschaftsgarten Moritzplatz in Berlin, Germany provides an example of a community garden that serves as a multipurpose gathering spot with multi-family residences across the street.
live, work, heal: A green corridor with a mix of uses that connect existing institutions with community hubs
2. North Capitol Bridge Top
The Crossroads sits on both sides of a 2.5 mile stretch of North Capitol Street. The corridor’s design includes infrastructure from an unfinished highway plan that occupies several acres of inaccessible land. Irving Street has a highway feel with fences running the full width of the study area.
Large open spaces and the rear of hospital facilities can only be viewed from a vehicle, the sporadic sidewalks, or recently installed protected bike lanes.
A present-day view looking east along Irving Street toward the Basilica from the North Capitol Street bridge. Google Maps, 2023.
Present-day examples of fenced off properties in North Capitol Crossroads.
Opportunity: Reimagine North Capitol and Irving Streets as tree-lined boulevards where pedestrians are prioritized and spaces along the corridor are used by people throughout the day. Reconfigure the cloverleaf to create four new blocks that reconnect neighborhoods and create accessible green spaces. This change will create space for new homes in mixed-use buildings and places for recreation.
Existing buildings can remove fences and new construction can abut the property line to establish a more active public space with uses that can highlight the health and wellness identity of the hospitals. Transforming the experience to a pedestrian-oriented green corridor will invite people to be part of an institutional community integrated with its neighbors.
Where North Capitol Street elevates over Irving Street, a Bridge Top design will become a landmark feature with space for pop-ups and markets as people gather to enjoy views extending from the National Cathedral to the Basilica.
In the future, North Capitol Street could become your space for community events, iconic views, and all of your health and wellness needs.
An aerial view looking south along North Capitol Street crossing over top of Irving Street.
An artist’s rendering looking west along Irving Street toward the National Cathedral, with the North Capitol Bridge Top in the foreground.
The North Capitol Bridge Top can become a memorable place to stop and enjoy the view punctuated by iconic architecture.
3. First Street NW Connector
As new development comes online to the north and south of the hospitals, First Street NW will become an important connection between these key destinations and neighborhoods.
Opportunity: Prioritize pedestrians and bicyclists on First Street NW, while emphasizing emergency vehicle access to the hospitals. Extend streetscape improvements through the hospital complex and into future redevelopments north of Irving Street, connected to the new public park, homes, and office at the Reservoir District. Elevate the cultural heritage, history, and wellness focus of the area through placemaking at the Reservoir District.
In the future, you could take a stroll along First Street Spine’s rotating art installations to entertain your friends and family members of all ages.
live, work, heal: A link that connects neighborhoods, jobs, parks, and history
A present-day view of First Street NW looking north. Google Maps, 2024.
An aerial view looking north along First Street NW (left highlighted corridor) connecting Bloomingdale, the Reservoir District, three hospitals, and proposed future development at AFRH.
Inspiration: “Remember Then, Remember When” by Colloqate Design at the New Orleans African American Museum offers a useful precedent for enhancing interpretive wayfinding along the institutional fences of the First Street Spine.
4. Michigan Ave and Irving Street NE
The mix of university buildings and housing within half a mile of the Washington Hospital and Veterans Affairs Medical Centers create a unique opportunity to build connections between educational and medical institutions, residents and visitors.
live, visit: A hub of institutions with apartments, shops, hotels, and a place to gather
A present-day aerial of the site with the proposed new buildings in pink. The dotted red lines depict the existing roadways where Irving St NE, west of the cloverleaf, could be consolidated to create a standard intersection at Michigan Ave NE. The consolidation would unlock new development areas highlighted in orange.
Opportunity: This area can become a retail hub that connects institutions, such as Catholic University with health focused businesses and new apartments. The Bend will be the eastern gateway to the Crossroads. Its iconic views will become a leading destination for community members to gather.
In the future, The Bend could be where you live, spend time with friends, and host out-of-town visitors.
A present-day view of Michigan Ave NE looking east toward the Irving Street westbound cloverleaf entrance. Google Maps, 2024.
An artist’s rendering of improved public spaces framed by future development, “The Bend,” as Michigan Ave NE intersects with Irving Street NE.