DC Streetcar service on H Street NE ended on March 31, 2026. WMATA's schedule puts the start of Gold Line bus rapid transit service on the same corridor in summer 2030. That leaves a gap of more than four years, and H Street is now in it. Between Sept. 9 and Oct. 26, the 1200, 1300 and 1400 blocks gained a line-dancing bar, saw a longtime Belgian kitchen talked about as closing and then possibly staying, and said goodbye to an Afro-Caribbean spot after five years.
The curb rules, midblock crossings and safety treatments that will shape the street for the next generation are still at the concept stage, and Metro and DDOT are holding their in-person open house on Monday, Nov. 30, at Atlas Performing Arts Center, 1333 H St NE.
The rails stopped in March, and the bus-lane plan stopped with them
The streetcar's end also changed a project that many on the corridor had expected to see built in 2025. DDOT's H Street NE bus priority project started in 2022. In 2023 it picked a concept with 24-hour transit-only lanes, three fully signalized midblock crossings and bus stop bulb-outs between 3rd Street and Benning Road. With streetcar service ending and a new stadium and neighborhood planned at the RFK site, DDOT paused construction of the transit-only lanes to re-evaluate the corridor.
Only one piece got built. DDOT finished four modular bus stop bulb-out platforms in fall 2025. The rest of the plan, including new curbside regulations, midblock crossings and other safety treatments, now belongs to the Gold Line Bus Rapid Transit Project Phase 1, which WMATA is leading in partnership with DDOT. In the meantime, DDOT pointed former streetcar riders to WMATA's D20 bus. WTOP reported at the time that Metro had no schedule changes planned at the shutdown and would monitor service.
As of Oct. 30, 2026, WMATA lists the Gold Line project in concept planning, with no construction scheduled before summer 2028.
Four years on paper
WMATA's Gold Line page, updated Oct. 30, 2026, sets out the Phase 1 schedule for H Street and Benning Road from Union Station to Oklahoma Avenue.
- Now: concept planning
- Early 2027: select a preferred concept
- Spring 2027: identify final design and construction funding
- Summer 2027: complete environmental review and preliminary design
- Summer 2028: begin construction
- Spring 2030: complete construction
- Summer 2030: service begins, timed to the RFK Stadium opening
Once a preferred concept is selected in early 2027, later stages refine it. That puts the Nov. 30 open house inside the window when the basic shape of the street is still open for discussion. Where buses stop, how the curb is regulated and where people can cross mid-block all fall under the elements DDOT handed to this project.
Construction is not scheduled to start until summer 2028. Every business that opened on H Street this fall will spend its first years on a street whose redesign is planned but not yet built.
The 1200 to 1400 blocks, Sept. 9 to Oct. 26
The changes this fall bunched up along a few blocks east of 12th Street, with one outlier near the western end.
| Address | Business | What happened | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1301 H St NE | Dirty Rhino | Opened as a country music, line-dancing and karaoke venue | Sept. 9 |
| 406 H St NE | 2AM Project | Soft opening, followed by an "officially open" announcement | Weekend of Oct. 10 |
| 1324 H St NE | Stable | Resumed service for its 2026/27 fall-winter season | Oct. 15 |
| 1224 H St NE | Jerk at Nite | Reported back in the former Sticky Rice space | Mid-October |
| 1427 H St NE | Lydia on H | Final party after five years; the business continues at Lydia in Dupont | Oct. 17 |
| 1238 H St NE | Granville Moore's | Reported closing Oct. 31, followed by a later report that it may continue | October |
PoPville reported Dirty Rhino's opening on the day it happened, Sept. 9, after the venue announced the date itself. At the far western end of the corridor, PoPville's Oct. 13 post on 2AM Project described a soft opening on the weekend of Oct. 10 and reprinted the business's announcement that it was officially open. Stable came back on Thursday, Oct. 15, for its seasonal run, which PoPville marked as a sign of autumn on H Street. On Oct. 16, PoPville reported Jerk at Nite back in action at 1224 H. PoPville had already spotted action at the old Sticky Rice space in September.
Two departures framed the same few weeks. Lydia on H held a grand finale party on Saturday, Oct. 17. Its announcement, as reprinted by PoPville, put the decision in plain terms:
"After an incredible 5 years on H Street, it's time to close this chapter. As our lease comes to an end, we've made the difficult decision not to renew."
The same statement sends regulars to Lydia in Dupont at 1215 Connecticut Avenue NW.
Granville Moore's, which has been at 1238 H for close to 20 years, was the subject of an Oct. 9 PoPville report that it would close on Oct. 31. In an Oct. 26 follow-up, the site said it was now hearing the restaurant might carry on past that date, possibly with some changes, and pointed out that the restaurant's reservations stayed open through December. The restaurant's own site lists hours of Thursday through Monday, 5 to 9 p.m.
Put on a map, most of these changes sit within a block or two of each other. Dirty Rhino at 1301, Stable at 1324 and Atlas at 1333 all share the 1300 block. Jerk at Nite and Granville Moore's are one block west, at 1224 and 1238. Lydia's former space at 1427 is one block east.
The open house sits on the busiest block of the fall
The Nov. 30 Gold Line open house is in the middle of this fall's changes, at Atlas, across the 1300 block from Stable and steps from Dirty Rhino. Metro and DDOT are co-hosting.
- Date: Monday, Nov. 30, 2026
- Time: 6 to 8 p.m.
- Place: Atlas Performing Arts Center, 1333 H St NE
- Registration: through Eventbrite, linked from WMATA's Gold Line project page
DDOT's H Street project page lists the items it is moving into the Gold Line project. New curbside regulations come first, followed by midblock crossings and other safety treatments. On a commercial strip, each of those touches the sidewalk in front of a business. The 2023 concept had three fully signalized midblock crossings. Where any new crossings end up in the Gold Line version will decide which storefronts sit closest to them.
The new businesses on these blocks are opening into that open question. A venue that launched on the 1300 block in September will have years of operating history before Gold Line construction is scheduled to start in summer 2028. The curb in front of it is part of what is up for discussion on Nov. 30.
At the corridor's western end, a holiday village runs through December
The Gold Line's Phase 1 route starts at Union Station, and Union Market sits just north of the corridor's western end. Union Market has set aside part of its parking lot for the season. The ROW, a holiday retail village at 4th and Penn Streets NE, listed at 1348 4th St NE, runs Nov. 5 through Dec. 23. It is open Thursday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., with rotating food and drink vendors and pop-up shops. Hill Rag describes the village as tiny-house pop-up shops, food and drink, seasonal activations and family activities.
The ROW's Sunday hours end at 7 p.m. That leaves time to get from 4th Street NE to Atlas the next evening for the 6 p.m. open house. A Thursday in early December could also start at The ROW and finish with dinner on the 1200 or 1300 block, among the businesses whose curb is part of the redesign.
If you live near these blocks and want to understand how the Gold Line timeline and this fall's turnover could affect your home's value, whether you plan to stay or sell, Thrive Team is glad to go through it with you, block by block. Start a Strategy Call.
