WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal judge in Washington has tightened the rules around the Trump administration’s plan to build a giant arch on Memorial Circle, the traffic circle at the Virginia end of Arlington Memorial Bridge, near Arlington National Cemetery.
In an order Monday, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan said the government must tell her within an hour of any decision on the project by the National Capital Planning Commission, the National Park Service or the Interior Department. Any work tied to building the arch has to be reported to the court within 30 minutes. The commission is set to take up final plans on Thursday, Nov. 5, and the administration has said construction could start as early as that day.
The District and Virginia sued over the weekend. D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb and his Virginia counterpart, Jay Jones, argue the 250-foot structure needs approval from Congress and would break the Height of Buildings Act, which generally caps heights in Washington at 130 feet. Their complaint also raises traffic, emergency response, stormwater and flight-path concerns. More than 27,000 vehicles a day use the circle, and building it is expected to take about three years.
Chutkan merged their case with an earlier suit brought by a historian of architecture and three men who served in Vietnam. The government’s response to the request for an immediate stay is due at 2 p.m. Tuesday, and the challengers reply Wednesday.
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