Underneath the surface of the road at Black Lives Matter Plaza in D.C. are electrical systems that need to be improved and upgraded, which means the plaza and the street-wide high letters are going to be unrecognizable for a while.
Pepco has dug up the roadway, taking out part of the mural in order to make the upgrades. The work will last 4-6 weeks.
The utility company said it will work with the city to restore the Black Lives Matter mural after the work is complete.
Before Black Lives Matter Plaza became one of the most recognizable places from last summer’s nationwide demonstrations for racial equity, it was just a strip of 16th Street NW between H and K streets.
Its purpose, as 16th Street, was to carry traffic and occasionally be the site of demonstrations in the city.
That changed overnight last June, when Mayor Muriel Bowser had the “Black Lives Matter” painted in bold yellow on the surface of the roadway.
