The Cairo is DC’s oldest and tallest residential skyscraper. When it opened in 1894, policymakers were so troubled over its height that they soon enacted the District’s famous height limit. 121 years later, The Cairo still towers over Dupont so much that it offers one of the city’s best views.

Scroll right to view panorama. Click for larger version. All photos by Dan Malouff.

The first panorama begins looking north. The patch of trees at the extreme left edge of the image are in Meridian Hill Park. Scrolling right the view shifts to look east, then turns to straight south and downtown DC. The panorama’s right edge looks southwest, with the peaks of Rosslyn in the background.

This second panorama continues to pan west. Beginning with downtown on the left edge, scrolling right yields views of Rosslyn, Q Street rowhouses, and eventually the National Cathedral.

Scroll right to view panorama. Click for larger version.

Here’s the view directly north:

Zoomed in on Meridian Hill:

Straight south, with the White House peeking around a corner, and the Potomac River in the distance:

16th Street downtown:

Rosslyn:

Q Street looking west:

Q Street looking east:

Scroll right to view panorama.

The Cathedral of Saint Matthew:

Scroll right to view panorama.

For more photos, see the complete album on Flickr.

 Cross-posted at Greater Greater Washington.
 
 
 

One of the biggest problems limiting growth of Capital Bikeshare in DC has been that downtown docks fill up early in the morning rush hour. That won’t be a problem after Thursday, when two new bikeshare corrals open, offering unlimited bikeshare parking.

Bike corral at the 2013 Obama inauguration. Photo by jantos on Flickr.

The two parking corrals will be at 13th and New York Avenue near Metro Center, and at 21st and I near Foggy Bottom. Once the regular bike docks fill up, a Capital Bikeshare staffer will be on hand to accept bikes and log out riders.

The bike corrals will be open every weekday morning this summer, beginning Thursday, May 14, and ending in September. If the service proves popular, CaBi may extend it into autumn.

Corrals will only be open during the morning rush hour, and only at those two locations.

Bigger redistribution truck

The corrals aren’t the only Capital Bikeshare improvement coming this week. The agency has also acquired a larger redistribution van, allowing them to move bikes from full stations to empty ones more quickly.

There’s no word yet on just how big the new bigger redistribution van is, but check out what Montreal uses:

Montreal redistribution truck.

Hooray for more reliable bikeshare!

 Cross-posted at Greater Greater Washington.
 
 

Metro riders at Rosslyn this morning. Photo by @ABouknight on Flickr.

Thousands of commuters faced gridlock at the peak of rush hour today when smoke at Foggy Bottom station forced Metro to close the crucial Rosslyn tunnel. With trains shut down and many alternatives overwhelmed by the flood of Metro riders, how did you cope?

What happened

Around 8:00 this morning, an insulator along the third rail between Foggy Bottom and Rosslyn Metro stations began giving off heavy smoke. From around 8:15 until about 11:15, WMATA suspended all Orange and Silver Line service between Virginia and DC. Blue Line trains diverted to the Yellow Line bridge.

The good news is nobody was hurt. The bad news was a hellish morning commute.

The Rosslyn tunnel is one of DC’s most crucial transportation pinch points. It’s one of the worst places for Metro to have to shut down service. And this morning’s event happened at the worst possible time, at the peak of rush hour, too late for WMATA to plan adequate backups, or for many commuters to seek alternate routes.

With no trains, and with buses, bikeshare, taxis, and roads overwhelmed by cast-off Metro riders, it was a particularly bad day.

How did you get to work?

My office is in Court House and I live in DC. Bikeshare wasn’t an option for me this morning, so my first thought was to take Metrobus 38B, aka the “Orange Line with a view”. But when I heard reports of how long lines were for buses, I figured the 38B would be uncomfortable at best.

Instead, I Metro-ed down the Yellow Line to the Pentagon and took ART 42 from there to my office. Happily, it was running on time and there were plenty of seats.

By the time I arrived at work, I’d been traveling an hour and a half. Bad, but not nearly as bad as many others.

How did you get in? Head over to the GGW version of this post and leave a comment.

 Cross-posted at Greater Greater Washington.
 
 
 

WMATA adopted its initial plan for the Metrorail system in 1968. Between then and the beginning of construction in 1969, the agency published this brochure, to teach people about the coming system.

WMATA 1968 brochure. All photos from Reddit user Globalwrath.

Reddit user Globalwrath discovered the brochure, and it’s a fascinating trove of historic thinking.

The last benefit on this page sounds suspiciously like sprawl.

Note future options for suburban extensions in virtually every direction, and a subway under Columbia Pike in Arlington.

“The Metro will be among the best in the world.” And it was, when it was new.

What stands out to you?

 Cross-posted at Greater Greater Washington.