1212.2 Ward 1 is the smallest of the eight (8) wards, but because it is located just north of central Washington and has a large population, it requires and contains extensive transportation services. The Ward 1 transportation routes serve as conduits to the Downtown retail and employment centers.

1212.3 Major commuter routes in the ward include 16th Street, Rock Creek Parkway, Connecticut Avenue, Rhode Island Avenue, Massachusetts Avenue, and Georgia Avenue.

1212.4 Traffic circulation west of 16th Street in Ward 1 is affected by the Rock Creek Parkway. Only Massachusetts and Connecticut Avenues, Park and Klingle Roads, and Calvert Street provide cross-park service. As a result, congestion, particularly at Calvert Street and Connecticut Avenue, is a significant problem during rush hours.

1212.9 The principal defect in transit service in Ward 1 is the limited east-west service. Primary routes for east-west travel across Rock Creek Park are one half (1/2) to one (1) mile apart.  Park and Klingle Roads, Calvert Street, Connecticut Avenue, and Massachusetts Avenue are the only routes across Rock Creek Park.

1212.17 The overall transportation goal for the District is to provide a transportation system that meets the needs of its residents, employees, and visitors and ensures the effective functioning of the District.  (see report)

Klingle Road is a significant cross-town route for many DC citizens, and is particularly important for the elderly and those who depend on automobiles for their transportation needs.  In 1990, Klingle Road carried an average 3,200 vehicles per day.

Without Klingle Road traffic is increased on Porter Street, Connecticut Avenue, Devonshire, Tilden, Calvert, Macomb, Newark, Cathedral, Ordway, and through the National Zoo.

In order to make up for the lost transportation capacity of Klingle Road, it will become necessary to widen other cross-town routes, such as Porter Street.

Porter Street west of Connecticut Avenue is narrow, overburdened, and badly in need of repair.

Klingle Road passes underneath Connecticut Avenue, avoiding the bottleneck at Connecticut Avenue and Porter Street.

Repairing Klingle Road will alleviate the bottleneck and increase pedestrian and motorist safety at Connecticut Avenue and Porter Street.

Repairing Klingle Road will reduce lines of traffic headed West up the hill on Porter Street to Connecticut Avenue and will reduce the associated idling while cars wait to get through the bottleneck.

Public transportation across town is insufficient.

Repairing Klingle Road will significantly reduce driving time between nearby neighborhoods and across town.

The rhetoric that repairing Klingle Road will invite significant commuter traffic has no factual basis -- on the contrary, anecdotal evidence reveals that Klingle Road was never crowded during rush hours.  Further, assuming commuter traffic becomes a problem, there are many ways to address this short of closing the street.

The enclave surrounding the upper end of Klingle Road (Klingle and Woodley) already is replete with limited access, one-way streets, including Devonshire Place, Cortland Place, 28th Street, 29th Street.

It is without precedent to close a section of an improved thoroughfare in the middle of it's route, give it over to a park, and thereby make the street discontinuous.