D.C. Panel Urges Discreet Barriers for Monuments
The nation’s capital should protect its monuments with barriers that blend into the urban landscape and turn Pennsylvania Avenue near the White House into a pedestrian promenade of historic beauty, a federal task force recommended.
The report by the Interagency Task Force of the National Capital Planning Commission said the avenue should remain closed to normal vehicle traffic in front of the White House, but it did not rule out opening it in the future.
In the meantime, it said experts should consider constructing an underground traffic tunnel to ease congestion caused by the street’s partial closure to traffic six years ago.
A new, secure transit system could carry people by the presidential mansion and to federal monuments, the report said.
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