On a walk through NoMa on Wednesday, Mayor Muriel Bowser committed to fixing one of the more vexing intersections in the District, the triangular plot of land that forms a “virtual circle” where New York Avenue crosses Florida Avenue in Northeast. Unofficially, it is known to neighbors as Dave Thomas Circle (we’ll give you one guess as to which fast food restaurant that sits in the middle of the traffic quagmire).

“Our plan is to fix it,” Bowser said to cheers from the audience at the end of the community walk. But the mayor did not provide specifics about how the city will improve the intersection, calling the issue “complicated” and saying negotiations for any potential land acquisition would be done “quietly.”

Dave Thomas Circle is a key pedestrian and bike connection between the residential neighborhood of Eckington to the north and the commercial core of NoMa to the south along First Street NE. At the same time, it also functions as a gateway to the District, since New York Avenue NE is the primary vehicular artery into the city from Baltimore and points north.

Negotiations are focused on what to do with the Wendy’s restaurant at the center of the circle, which area residents and some elected officials want removed in favor of safer pedestrian and bike corridors.

“We need to exercise eminent domain—the mayor needs to exercise eminent domain,” Ward 5 Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie told Eckington residents in November. He has previously described it as a “failing intersection.”

The intersection’s roots date back to the city plan laid out by Pierre L’Enfant in 1791. It was literally the edge of the city at the time, with Florida Avenue (then called Boundary Street) and New York Avenue simply ending where they met.

L’Enfant biographer Scott Berg, speaking to The Washington Post in 2017, described the intersection of Boundary Street and New York Avenue as a “left over” space that resulted from the planner’s focus on other grand circles in the city’s core.

As the city expanded, the intersection grew organically, but there was always something on the plot of land that is home to the Wendy’s today, including a streetcar station and later a gas station and auto body shop. The current layout of the circle was implemented in 2010 as an interim solution by the District Department of Transportation to fix the traffic and pedestrian issues there.

However, it continues to fall short of success by most measures. Pedestrians must traverse four streets when walking between Eckington and NoMa, and DDOT data shows the circle is one of the most dangerous in the city with at least 455 crashes at the intersection’s three distinct corners from 2015 to 2017.

Conditions are only expected to get worse. In addition to the traffic mess, new high-rise developments are underway or planned on both sides of the intersection that could see thousands more pedestrians passing through Dave Thomas Circle to walk or take the Metro every day.

“We’re thrilled that the mayor is working with her team to figure out solutions to improve pedestrian, bicycle, and vehicular traffic across the circle,” said Robin-Eve Jasper, president of the NoMa Business Improvement District, after the mayor’s comments. “[We’re] really excited about the growth that that could bring to both the community north of the circle as well as continued growth to the commercial core of NoMa.”

DDOT’s latest study on how to improve the intersection, which it began in 2014, has focused on two options to reconfigure the circlee: one would acquire and raze the Wendy’s to add green space and pedestrians and bike corridors, while the second would keep the restaurant but on a smaller plot of land. Progress has been slow, with residents disappointed in the lack of both short-term improvements and a long-term plan.

“We know this process is going to take time,” said Conor Shaw, president of the Eckington Civic Association. “Dave Thomas Circle is the most dangerous intersection in the city, and we would like some short-term fixes for what we see as a safety crisis.”

Mayor Bowser agrees that improvements need to be made but, citing the need to manage the city’s tax dollars wisely, offered scant details beyond that.

“There are a lot of ownership issues to be dealt with,” she said. “We recognize that it’s a juggernaut that needs a solution.”