(Photo by Martin Austermuhle)

In the spirit of beautifying urban spaces, placemaking, improved safety and visibility, and other things urbanists love, the D.C. Department of Transportation has installed intricate designs into the crosswalks at 7th and Kennedy NW and Kennedy and Illinois Ave NW.

Decorative crosswalks have been painted at 7th and Kennedy Streets NW, as well at Kennedy and Illinois Avenue. Only other place I recall these was 14th and S a few years back. The idea is they increase the visibility of the crosswalk. pic.twitter.com/o1umI6WmJV

— Martin Austermuhle (@maustermuhle) August 9, 2018

Up close, they look even cooler:

Check out the detail! Thanks for highlighting these @maustermuhle! pic.twitter.com/rio08dlRVr

— Uptown Main Street (@UptownMainSt) August 10, 2018

Says DDOT: “These stamped concrete crosswalks were one of several measures installed to calm traffic and improve visibility for both pedestrians and drivers as part of the Kennedy Street Revitalization Project. While the design of these crosswalks is unique to this corridor, DDOT employs a number of strategies to improve safety and visibility at crosswalks all over the District including raised intersections and bulb-outs at intersections to reduce pedestrian crossing distances.”

The Kennedy Street Revitalization Project—originally slated to be finished by fall 2017—will also add 13,000 square feet of green space and 69,000 square feet of new brick paver sidewalk to the area, per the mayor’s office.

These are not the only pretty crosswalks in the city; who can forget the lovely mural painted into the pedestrian scramble in Chinatown? Also, there’s the grid pattern at Georgia Avenue, Kansas Avenue, and Upshur Street NW, as well as Georgia, New Hampshire, and Rock Creek Road NW. (Unfortunately, that grid pattern makes some people woozy and nauseous, but hey, it still adds a little pizzazz).

A spokesperson for DDOT explained that, in fact, these new crosswalks aren’t really “painted” at all. The substance used to create the design is a thermoplastic material, the same kind used to paint the wide white lines on a normal crosswalk. First, the asphalt gets heated up to soften it, and then metal gets pressed into it in the shape of the design. The thermoplastic material then gets laid into the grooves, and heated up so it melts.

The process can be expensive—the grid patterns in Petworth cost $310,000 to install, per Washington City Paper.

There used to be another crosswalk of this same type at 14th and S Street NW, completed nearly a decade ago. DDOT says that one was removed after resurfacing.