The L Street underpass in NoMa is about to get a whole lot brighter. A new art installation called “Lightweave” will go into the space, continuing the neighborhood’s plans to brighten and activate the four underpasses at its heart.

Image from NoMa Parks Foundation.

The installation includes lights that drop from the ceiling in a discontinuous, undulating manner somewhat similar to clouds, images on NoMa’s Flickr page show.

“The jury made its decision to select ‘Lightweave’ based on excellence and innovation of its design but also its remarkable complementarity with the L Street plaza, planned for the west side of the underpass,” said Charles Wilkes, chairman of the NoMa Parks Foundation, in a statement.

The L Street plans are the second in NoMa’s efforts to activate and brighten the underpasses on K, L and M Streets, and Florida Avenue NE where they pass under the Amtrak tracks. Construction at L Street should begin late this year.

The foundation announced plans in April for a series vaults made up of lightsaber-like LED lights for the M Street underpass. The installation is called “Rain” and was designed by Thurlow Small Architecture + NIO architects.

One thing the conceptual plans for L Street do not include is seating or gathering spaces for residents and visitors, an issue that ANC commissioner Tony Goodman raised in relation to the M Street underpass at a community meeting on Rain in April.

San Francisco-based Future Cities Lab is the designer of Lightweave.

NoMa will hold a community meeting on the L Street underpass plans on July 13.

Edward Russell is an air transport reporter by day with a passion for all things transportation. He is a resident of Eckington and tweets frequently about planes, trains and bikes.