The X2

One DC built environment issue I have yet to fully figure out is why east-west travel is so difficult. Natural north-south barriers like Rock Creek Park combine with man-made ones like train yards and an awkward street grid to make cross town travel more difficult than it needs to be. It's frustrating that each major east-west route is so susceptible to bottlenecking or congestion. One of the more recently problematic east-west thoroughfares has been H Street NW near the Capitol Crossing project. Here, in just a few blocks' span, H Street crosses or runs parallel to Massachusetts Ave, 4th Street, 3rd Street, and an interstate highway, 395. The intersections here have always been a mess, but add to that a total reconstruction of H Street and Mass Ave in conjunction with decking over the interstate, and simultaneously building 2.2 million square feet of office, retail, and residential buildings adjacent to the intersection. This has been the scenario for the last ~two years...

200 Mass Ave (center) from E Street NW. ABRA placards are up for the first big retail project at  Capital Crossing . A 200+ seat restaurant is set for the 200 Mass building, which is currently under construction. 200 Mass will be the first of 5 buildings, largely constructed over Interstate 395, in downtown DC. The project promises 2.2 million square feet of mixed use floor space including 75,000 square feet of retail and restaurants. The placards indicates a request for a restaurant called "Union Square Cafe" that will seat 175 patrons with a total occupancy load of 220 and a summer garden with 45 seats. The proposed open hours are Sunday to Thursday 10AM - 1AM and Friday to Saturday 10AM - 2AM. The nature of operation is described as contemporary American "...with seasonal fare in a semi-formal, refined setting..." The original Union Square Cafe opened in 1985 and is currently located on Park Ave about halfway between Union Square and Madison Square ...

Decking over interstate 395 begins. The project to deck over interstate 395 inside the District continues and new changes are visible daily on the large work site. The decking for what will be a platform holding new buildings and streets is starting to take shape just south of Massachusetts Ave NW between 2nd and 3rd Streets. And the construction of a new entrance portal to the soon to be underground highway has created a huge mess of traffic near the confluence of Mass Ave and H Street NW. As a new rider of the X series buses that pass through this area, I look forward to the eventual resolution of this temporary set-up. The name of the project is Capital Crossing and the builders look to complete the project by 2020.  Project website . New underground entrance to interstate 395 on Mass Ave NW. Rendering of 200 and 250 Massachusetts Ave buildings, two of five new buildings to be constructed. Via Capital Crossing .