Last night's meeting about the White House Road plan did not include much information. Basically, they're going to decided whether or not to keep E Street open, and then they'll decide what it should look like. So, nothing new.
I talked to some of the Secret Service people and asked them if making E Street more like Pennsylvania Ave would bring any functionality improvements and I was told no. They think the road functions fine for their needs, but they recognize that it's ugly.
The only new part is that the National Capital Planning Commission is managing a design competition to improve the appearance of the security infrastructure used to control unauthorized vehicular use at President's Park South. This will include the entire area bounded by Constitution, 17th, State/the White House fenceline/Hamilton and 15th Street.
The competition's goal is to generate creative and thoughtful design concepts that integrate durable, more aesthetic USSS security elements and improve the visitor experience in the President's Park South area, which is located immediately adjacent to the White House and its grounds.
Since most of the roads are to be closed, even those in the park, it might present an opportunity to rethink the Ellipse and the park land around it (An ellipse is the perfect shape for a velodrome).
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