History
Thomas Circle was originally implemented as a true traffic circle. Later, 14th Street was extended through the circle to increase traffic flow. In December 1938, construction began on the Massachusetts Avenue underpass; it opened for traffic on March 14, 1940.
In 2006, the D.C. Department of Transportation completed a $6 million reconstruction of the circle. The project included the addition of bike lanes, pedestrian crosswalks mid-circle (which hadn't previously existed), new in-circle traffic lights, better street lighting, and new sidewalks and landscaping.
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Famous quotes containing the word history:
“There is no history of how bad became better.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The basic idea which runs right through modern history and modern liberalism is that the public has got to be marginalized. The general public are viewed as no more than ignorant and meddlesome outsiders, a bewildered herd.”
—Noam Chomsky (b. 1928)
“The history of the world is the record of the weakness, frailty and death of public opinion.”
—Samuel Butler (1835–1902)