We'll be sure to remind you as the date gets closer, but you'll probably want to get it on your calendar in advance: as part of their Year of Three-Day Weekend Closures, both the Federal Triangle and Smithsonian stations will be closed on Presidents Day weekend, February 18-21. more ›

Over at Modern Art Notes, blogger Tyler Green has the (hilariously named) MANscoop that the National Gallery of Art is in negotiations to expand across the street from its current location on Constitution Avenue into the Federal Trade Commission building. The deal isn't sealed yet, but Green's sources sound pretty confident that the museum will be moving over to the space in time for a 2012 opening. MAN has a decent history of the two... more ›

As you've no doubt heard, we're putting on our best coats and walking shoes to fight for voting rights with a march and rally this afternoon. Several blocks will closed to traffic during the events, which kick off at 2:30 p.m. in Freedom Plaza with a march that leads to a rally at the Capitol Reflecting Pool beginning at 4:00 p.m. Between these times Pennsylvania Ave. NW from 3rd to 14th Sts. and 3rd St.... more ›

UPDATE: DDOT has also postponed the previously scheduled closures of the inbound lanes on the Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge this weekend to accommodate the marathon. DDOT has rescheduled the bridge work for next weekend, weather permitting. Nearly 5,000 runners will take to District roads tomorrow to compete in the Wirefly National Marathon. The race is set to start at 6:30 AM at RFK Stadium. As it takes runners through every quadrant of the city,... more ›

An alert tipster brings us news that WMATA officials are poised to consider whether some of the Metro systems shorter escalators should be converted into stairs. The proposal on the table would call for the decommissioning of 23 escalators in order to save approximately $1.2 million in maintenance costs. According to WTOP, none of the escalators in question exceed thirty feet in height and are all units that provide redundant service at their individual stations.... more ›

Arguments over where to put new monuments on the National Mall have grown increasingly frequent and divisive as the front lawn has filled up. In 2003, Congress banned new construction on the Mall's cross-axis, beyond what had already been approved. In 2004, the National Museum of the American Indian and the World War II Memorial opened, and recently, a trapezoidal spot just northeast of the Washington Monument was chosen as the location for the National... more ›

The usually Spartan feel of the Capitol South metrorail station has been broken by, of all things, pictures of smiling couples. As part of an advertising campaign, all nine available billboard spots at the station's entrance have taken to declaring the merits of marriage. While it isn't odd for policy pushers to target the metrorail system, especially stations close to the Capitol campus (like Capitol South and Union Station), we were struck by all the happiness amid all the miserable commuters. more ›

We would be remiss to not mention yesterday's anniversary of the January 1982 crash of Air Florida Flight 90 into the Potomac River shortly after taking off from National Airport. Brown Pau has a post on Metafilter pointing us to a whole host of good links about the disaster, which claimed 78 lives on board and on the 14th Street Bridge, where the plane had crashed into gridlocked traffic before sinking into the icy Potomac.... more ›

Inaugural Security to Be Very Tight: While it has been widely broadcast that inaugural security will be the tightest ever, the Post provides us with some more details as two what that means. Roadblocks and screening points will go up three blocks from the Pennsylvania Avenue parade route. Windows facing the parade route will be sealed, parked cars removed and snipers will be on rooftops. more ›

The Mount Vernon Square-7th St. Convention Center metrorail station was flooding for good part of the overnight hours yesterday, but WMATA didn't realize what was going on, despite an alarm that went off at central operations control. WMATA is now investigating. According to the AP, via WJLA/NewsChannel 8, Pepco had somehow set off sprinklers in the station, which automatically triggered an alarm at 1 a.m. Wednesday. But there wasn't an immediate follow-up by WMATA and... more ›

Two weekends back, DCist took a trip to the Old Post Office Pavilion. We weren't there to mingle with tourists in the food court, we went for the view. With the Washington Monument closed for security upgrades, the tower of the Old Post Office is the next best thing. Its free access and normally low traffic is one of the best relatively low-key tourist sites in the city. (Please note that the National Park Service's... more ›

We came across this image from some sort of University of Oregon research page on urban heat islands. While a political pundit may try to say that Congress or the White House is full of hot air, it may in fact be the Pentagon. Examining this undated map, here are some locations in near the center of the city that produce a lot of heat. - the Pentagon - Department of Agriculture - Department of... more ›

Inbound traffic from Virginia this morning has been slow-going because a key intersection, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, has been shut down for the police investigation of a fatal 6 a.m. car-pedestrian accident. Eastbound Constitution Avenue from the Memorial and Roosevelt bridges toward Federal Triangle and the Capitol is seeing major trouble, as is inbound I-395 via the 14th Street Bridge. Traffic reports indicate that with 14th Street shutdown, backups push back many miles toward... more ›