The Dupont Deckover Is Poured, and the Work Has Moved to the Shop Doors

"Shopping at your local business, particularly those that have construction surrounding them, might be a good way to start marking off your shopping list while supporting our local neighborhood." That line didn't come from the Dupont Circle BID. It came from DDOT's weekly construction blog on October 7, where the project team counted down to Hanukkah, Christmas and Kwanzaa.

A week later the blog reported the milestone people had been waiting for. The fifth and final concrete pour over the Connecticut Avenue underpass was finished. With the slab done, the crews' next jobs are the service lanes, sidewalks, signals and pavers along the 1500 and 1600 blocks. The project now sits outside storefronts, and the timing puts it there for the holiday shopping season.

Five spans, poured overnight

The deck went in quickly once it started. DDOT's construction updates page says the first pour was set for the night of September 17, with the underpass closed from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. and traffic sent around the circle. Before each pour, crews did a dry run so that more than 20 concrete trucks could pass inspection, pump and leave the work area. A Bidwell machine on a moving frame then spread and smoothed the slab.

Spans 1 and 3 went first, and spans 2 and 4 came next. By October 1, only span 5 was left. The October 14 update said that pour was done "last Friday evening."

The same update explains the large round gap left in the new deck. It's a 50-foot-wide opening for tunnel ventilation, and it stays part of the final design. A concrete barrier with a mounted rail surrounds it.

Where the work zone sits this month

The order of the next steps comes straight from DDOT's October updates:

1. Pavers on the deck. DDOT's October 1 update listed paver installation on top of the concrete as the next major step after the pours.
2. The 1500 block, west side first. Service lanes and sidewalks inside the deckover area come next, starting on the west side.
3. The 1600 block, east side, toward R Street. As of October 21, crews on the northbound side had reached the R Street intersection to install new traffic signals and sidewalk.
4. Intersections and side streets. New signals, streetlights and stormwater work all connect at the intersections. The work also runs a few yards down side streets, as on Q Street east of Connecticut, which already has new pavers, curb cuts and ramps.

On October 14, DDOT estimated the current phase would take another four to five weeks. That puts its end in mid-November, close to when the holiday market opens a block away. While crews rebuild a sidewalk, DDOT moves pedestrians into a protected walkway along the street edge and uses ramps to keep each entrance open. The October 21 update says the team is working with businesses on timing, sometimes to remove sidewalk furniture and sometimes to work around entrances.

The 1800 block has a separate project. DDOT's page says construction on The Geneva is underway there and that the two teams meet regularly to limit the effect on traffic. The Geneva is the conversion of the office property at 1825–1875 Connecticut Avenue NW into a 15-story building with 532 homes and 57,000 square feet of ground-floor commercial space. The Mayor's office announced the groundbreaking on January 22, 2026.

The businesses inside the fences

The city's own map of the affected area matches the blocks where crews are working now. In September, the DC Department of Small and Local Business Development opened a final round of streetscape relief grants of up to $10,000 per business. Eligible businesses had to be on both sides of the 1500 and 1600 blocks, the 1700 block between R and S, or the 1800 block between Florida and California. Applications closed September 28. The Dupont Circle BID's grant notice says DSLBD aims to pay awards within the first quarter of fiscal year 2027.

The grants followed a hard spring. In late April and early May 2026, the BID asked the DC Council for $2 million in relief. WJLA reported then that the BID had seen foot traffic drop as much as 50 to 60 percent at some businesses. A sous chef at Daily Provisions described the daily problem to WJLA:

"It makes it difficult for pickups, to-go drivers, and even people commuting to work. Half of the street is blocked off, and when trucks try to turn around, the confusion just delays everything."

That spring coverage also included Golden Age, Tatianna Pizza, FH Amsterdam and DuPont Lash and Brow Bar, all on the stretch under construction, in reporting by WTOP and DC News Now. Those figures describe last spring, not this month. The point is that the sidewalk work that caused those problems has now reached the next set of storefronts. DDOT says on its project page that every business stays open and accessible through construction.

One business on these blocks just marked a milestone of its own. Kramers, the bookstore and restaurant that opened as Kramerbooks on July 4, 1976, turned 50 this year, according to WTOP. Hoodline reported that the public anniversary party ran Saturday, October 24, from 7 p.m. to midnight, with pop-ups from local businesses, prizes and anniversary merchandise. DDOT congratulated Kramers in its October 21 update, in the same paragraph about the 1500 block, where crews are now at work.

A holiday calendar one block from the fences

This season's events sit close to the construction blocks. The DC Holiday Market fills a closed section of New Hampshire Avenue NW between Q Street and the circle. Its organizer, Diverse Markets Management, lists Kramers as one of the neighbors a few steps away. Taken together, the season's dates look like this:

The BID's Jason Goldman told The Wash that the market will have more than 35 businesses selling jewelry, art, clothing, food and crafts. He described the BID's approach to events this way: "if it's not broken, to not fix it." The market runs 40 days, and its organizers point out that it's one block from the Dupont Circle Metro. The Metro, the market and the 1500 block of Connecticut Avenue are all within a few minutes' walk of each other. A December errand list can easily cover the market stalls and the shops on the blocks under construction in one trip.

What the poured deck is meant to become

The slab will eventually be a plaza. DDOT describes a new public space between the circle and Q Street, with a pedestrian-only crossing linking the east and west sides of Connecticut Avenue while cars keep using the underpass below. The department lists everyday uses such as eating lunch, reading or playing with kids, and possible events such as a farmers market, outdoor movies, music, plays and cultural programs. The Dupont Circle BID's 2025 annual report called the $37 million project "catalytic" and named concerts, movies, art markets and café seating as possibilities.

Those are plans for now. No one has announced an opening event or date for the plaza, or which organization will run its programming. The details of the design also need watching. DDOT's April 2025 public-meeting drawing showed proposed trees, raised planters, benches, bike racks, precast boulders and a curbless street. In June 2025, Washingtonian's explainer described a DDOT rendering with no permanent landscaping planned for the plaza.

DDOT's latest schedule statement, from September 17, says the project is on track to finish in early summer 2027, depending on weather and unforeseen conditions. The department is also updating ANC 2B on progress at the commission's monthly meeting. Questions go to the project inbox at [email protected].

Along the 1500 and 1600 blocks of Connecticut Avenue, the next few months mean ramps, protected walkways and new pavers, with the holiday market lit up a block east. If you'd like to talk through what the streetscape could mean for your own block or building, Rebecca Weiner Group is glad to help. Let's connect over a free home consultation and a custom valuation that reflects where Dupont Circle is headed.