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Interesting idea with the mall expansion, though I take issue with the actual design.

Though it's true that the Tidal Basin and Hains Point were created by humans, those were all tidal flats anyway - there was exposed ground there at low tide, so raising that land wasn't as 'unnatural' as it may seem. In that design, that southern axis extending into the Potomac just looks wrong. A river doesn't flow like that.

Also, if you're going to do all that work there anyway, I think you could come up with a much cleaner way to cluster the bridges across the Potomac. Also, if you're going to be adding all that stuff there (Supreme Court, new Museums, etc) then it seems adding an infill Metro station on the Yellow line makes sense, too. Reworking all that transportation infrastructure ought to be linked with any plans to alter or completely bury 395. Also, the point about chlorine gas seems a bit redundant, as there are plans in the works for a freight rail bypass of DC, allowing those shipments to stay out of the city (and hopefully dedicate more trackage to passenger rail).

Interesting concept, but I'd change a lot of things if I were making this a proposal.

by Alex B. on Jun 27, 2008 10:24 am • link • report