One of the top ten most dangerous intersections in Washington, D.C. has been transformed into a safe gateway and green public space.
Thomas Balsley, FASLA, co-managing principal of SWA/Balsley, said the $41 million Mamie “Peanut” Johnson Plaza shows how transportation infrastructure can support “social sustainability” by providing community space and building a sense of neighborhood pride.
The 37,000-square-foot project is also a model for what city departments of transportation can achieve when they collaborate with landscape architects and community groups. “Through this partnership, we were able to take this to a whole other level, beyond the standard traffic triangle,” Balsley said.
The plaza, which is where Florida Avenue, New York Avenue, and First Street Northeast converge, was once home to a Wendy’s and colloquially known as Dave Thomas Circle, after the founder of the fast food chain. Through eminent domain, the D.C. government took ownership of the space so they could address the unsafe conditions. From 2015 to 2020, the intersection resulted in 224 crashes, with seven involving pedestrians and five with cyclists.
Balsley said this traffic node has a rich history. It was part of Pierre L’Enfant’s original plan for the district. “It was the outer edge of the city, the northeast gateway.”
As the district department of transportation started reimagining traffic flows, the NoMA Business Improvement District and its Parks Foundation saw an opportunity to create “meaningful little park places,” Balsley said. They engaged SWA/Balsley and local partner ParkerRodgriguez to undertake a community engagement process. That process resulted in a public vote to rename the plaza after Mamie “Peanut” Johnson, the first female pitcher in the Negro baseball leagues.
Traffic flow resulted in creation of three separate spaces bisected by two major avenues. Despite the challenging set-up, Balsley wanted to ensure “they read as one space.” To do that, he focused on the pedestrian experience.
Wider, safer sidewalks provide connections between the three parcels. Bike lanes and traffic calming measures help reduce speeds.
And Balsley added sloping berms, with high back seats, and grasses on the sides of the parks that face major avenues to create buffers, a “sense of psychological safety.” When the lush grasses grow in, “they will also help create the sense of a protected, enclosed, quieter space.”
The addition of 75 trees, pollinator-friendly plants, and new features like social areas, a play space, and picnic tables help draw pedestrians through the series of spaces. A public artwork is also planned for the middle parcel.
SWA states that in the first five months of 2025, crash numbers have “decreased by 40 percent from pre-construction conditions.” Before, cyclists often needed to use the circle’s sidewalks. Now protected bike lanes through the intersection connect with a newly multimodal Florida Avenue.
The project supports the district’s Vision Zero goals and reflects its “belief that equitable, high-quality public space is essential civic infrastructure,” the city states. So far, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has built 55 miles of bike lanes, of which 35 miles are safer, protected lanes.
For Balsley, the climate and biodiversity benefits of the trees and pollinator-friendly landscape are important, but he asks us to “not forget the social and economic sides of sustainability.” He views the plaza as a way to build community among the 13,000 people who live nearby and have little access to green space. The plaza brings together a diverse mix of people from surrounding residences, government buildings, and high schools, supporting local business.