Toward a More Perfect Union Station

Renovation of Plaza in Front of Entrance Is Expected to Begin in the Fall Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, July 24, 2008; Page DZ01 D.C. officials are planning to renovate the plaza in front of Union Station, the first in a planned series of major changes to the 101-year-old railroad facility. The plaza project, led by the D.C. Department of Transportation and involving several federal agencies, will eliminate a fishhook-shaped road that cuts through Columbus Plaza. The change will restore the plaza to its earlier appearance and make it easier for pedestrians to reach the station from the Capitol and other areas, officials said. The idea is to have the space "be more about a plaza and less about trying to walk across nine lines of vehicle traffic," said Thomas Luebke, secretary of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, a... [read full story]