As a result of the past ten years of neglect and the fact that no houses are located along the restricted section, the area of Klingle Valley along Klingle Road has succumbed to urban blight.  The Valley is no longer safe at night; instead, it now exhibits illegal dumping, drug use, and gang activity.

The road suffered during the previous D.C. administration.  Well-heeled residents of the upper Klingle Road area took advantage of a corrupt, decrepit, and bankrupt D.C. government to gain the private confidence of Gary Burch, former chief engineer of the City, for their own personal benefit.  As a result, the D.C. Department of Public Works improperly neglected to maintain our public thoroughfare.  Interestingly,  Mr. Burch soon after took instruction from Professor Katzman in his Georgetown University government class.  McGrory, M Washington Post, May 23, 1995. 

Klingle Road previously carried some 3,200 vehicles per day (that's over 1.1M cars a year) through Klingle Valley.  Now, this section of Klingle Road daily serves only a few dozen people, mostly local citizens living in million dollar homes near the intersection of Klingle and Woodley who enjoy walking their dogs on our public roadway, built with your tax dollars.  Mr. Russert and his crew have successfully reduced traffic through their neighborhood for ten years by their self-serving hamstringing of our public works facilities.

Klingle Road is a historic landmark, predates the Civil Ward, and may qualify for National Historic status.  The road was an original resource to the historic Pierce Mill.

The Klingle Valley tributary is barely more than a seasonal stream.

The restricted section of Klingle Road has never been officially closed per se -- only the Mayor can close District streets after a legislative process that requires a detailed proposal from the Mayor to the Council, a public hearing, input from various public agencies and the ANC's, and a determination by the D.C. Council that the road is "unnecessary." (D.C. Code Title 7: Chap. 1, 7-101; Chap. 4, 7-421 et seq.)  The determination may be subject to judicial review.

The roads approaching the traffic-restricted section of Klingle, up from Porter Street and down from Woodley Avenue, recently have been repaired and the surface significantly upgraded, including the extensive cloverleaf that has developed over the years at Porter -- an unnecessary expense ($5M) if the restricted section is to be permanently closed.

DPW has spent years conducting an unnecessary and wasteful environmental assessment study of the road, the repair of which qualifies for Federal funding.  Recent major repairs to Tilden, Porter Street, and Park Road, which also qualify for Federal funding, were approved and conducted without such a study, as are all road repairs in the City.  Klingle Road has been shunted into this unique boondoggle by the backroom dealings of the influential people who live near the road in Woodley Park and want to see Klingle Road remain closed to protect their property values.

Klingle Road joins neighborhoods.  Klingle Road begins at Park Road in the Ward 1 neighborhood of Mt. Pleasant, proceeds West across Rock Creek (running briefly with and then under Porter Street) and continues West along the valley of the Klingle Tributary, across Woodley Road to 34th Street NW in Ward 3.  The entire street is approximately 1.25 miles in length.  

Klingle Road addresses begin in Mt. Pleasant at the 2000 block (at Park Road) and continue through the 3300 block (to 34th Street) in Woodley Park.