The intersection of Florida Avenue and New York Avenue in NoMa has long bedeviled pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers, because of the triangle-shaped plot of land plopped at the center.

Often called Dave Thomas Circle, thanks to the Wendy’s that sits on the land, the intersection is among the most dangerous in D.C. for drivers, even as it serves as the primary road for cars to enter the city from the north, and to access Eckington from the south. Traversing the intersection on foot or by bike requires crossing four streets. The current traffic pattern for the intersection, which resembles a traffic circle, was put into place in 2010.

Now, Ward 5 Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie wants the mayor to include funds in her budget to pay for eminent domain at the center of the intersection—seizing the property with the Wendy’s and compensating the owner. The funds would also cover engineering and design plans to address “pedestrian and bike space and slowing automobile traffic on New York Avenue.” He included the request in a 10-page letter to Mayor Muriel Bowser with his requests for her Fiscal Year 2020 budget.

“It’s safe to say that no one who has to travel through that intersection is satisfied with it,” McDuffie tells DCist. Dave Thomas Circle is located in his ward. “People avoid it because it’s awkward, unsafe, and just confusing.”

McDuffie tells DCist that he would prefer if the property owner and the city could reach a mutually agreed upon deal to purchase the land, but that exercising eminent domain would be a good final resort.

“I don’t want to be in the business of advocating this for everything, but this is so serious and has been a longstanding issue, we have to take some bold action at this point,” says McDuffie. “The cost to the District of Columbia, the cost to the students and others who have to walk that way and traverse that really unsafe intersection, far outweighs the benefits the private landowner is receiving.”

The property at 100 New York Avenue NE is currently valued at $6,668,370, according to the D.C. Office of Tax and Revenue, with the land itself worth more than $6 million. It was purchased for $2.3 million in 2006 by CRV Sunrise Valley, an LLC with a Kansas address that’s associated with Bernstein Management Corp. McDuffie says he has not been in touch with the property owners, and he’s “hopeful” that the Bowser administration has had conversations with them. The mayor’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

This letter isn’t the first time McDuffie has called for the government to buy the land and use it for a public purpose. In November, he told Eckington residents that “the mayor needs to exercise eminent domain.”

Bowser has said as recently as this January that she plans to “fix” the intersection, though she didn’t commit to the idea of eminent domain. After conducting a study about potential improvements to Dave Thomas Circle, the District Department of Transportation has distilled its options to two finalists, both of which would expand the space available to pedestrians. One would keep the Wendy’s in the middle of the intersection while paring down the parking lot to create pedestrian paths. The other would raze the Wendy’s building altogether and put green space in its stead.

As recently as 2017, Wendy’s seemed to have no plans to leave Dave Thomas Circle. “We look forward to successfully operating here for many years to come,” a Wendy’s spokesperson told the Washington Post.

At a D.C. Council committee hearing on Monday, DDOT Director Jeff Marootian told residents that the agency would provide more information about how it intends to fix Dave Thomas Circle this summer, WTOP reported. “We may not have a full plan but we may have some significant steps forward,” the director said.

McDuffie says he’s “not persuaded by that” language, which he characterizes as “watered down and not the full resolution that I think the residents deserve … There needs to be a permanent solution that makes this area safe for everyone.”

Previously:
‘A Juggernaut That Needs A Solution’: Bowser Commits To Fixing One Of The City’s Most Vexing Intersections