Costs Too Much?
Klingle Road is a federal aid road:
Klingle is a federal aid road and eligible for 80-100% funding with
federal transportation dollars. DC's cost to repair Klingle Road
will be very modest, if it costs DC anything at all. DDOT
Director, Dan Tangherlini, said in a meeting with Ward 1, 3 and 4
residents that he could not only get 80% funding, but 100%. Also, DDOT
budget is full of federally funded roads that receive 80-100% funding
all the time.
Fixing Klingle Road is not out of line with current cost levels for road
repair. Take away all of the storm sewer and other non-road work
that needs to be done in Klingle valley no matter what, and fixing
Klingle Road will cost about same mile-per-mile as fixing Broad Branch,
for example.
The 1991 estimates for fixing the road
were also about $5M, but the winning bid was awarded to a D.C.
construction company, who said that they could fix if for about $3.4M.
Five million dollars may sound like a lot of money, but it represents
only about 1/2 of 1% of DDOT's projected operating budget.
The money for repairing the road
would go to a local construction company, one of the many economic
benefits of repairing Klingle Road.
The intersection at Porter and
Connecticut has a failed Level of Service (LOS), with unacceptable
rush-hour wait times of several minutes per vehicle. This is the
busiest intersection in Cleveland Park, and the problem impacts tens of
thousands of us every day, including commuters, bus riders, and
emergency service vehicles. Opening Klingle Road is the only viable way
to address this problem. The economic and social costs of lost time,
wasted gasoline, and excess pollution far exceed the cost of repairing
Klingle Road. These wasted costs will only increase over time.
Idling cars generate more air
pollution than moving cars. Closing Klingle causes idling cars to
generate tons of extra toxics every year. The extra carbon monoxide
(CO) output is estimated to be the equivalent of locating a small power
generating station in Cleveland Park. What are the public health costs
over time of all those extra toxic emissions?
Closing Klingle Road will only make
the Porter and Connecticut traffic problem solution that much more
difficult and expensive, so there are no cost savings in closing Klingle
Road. The Porter and Connecticut intersection problems will still
exist, and the solution will be much harder to attain.
On a per user basis, spending the money
on repairing our road will benefit citizens far more than building a
short, steep bicycle path.
Klingle Road will be built anyway,
but under the Mayor's plan we won't be able to use it. What is the
sense of using public funds to build a road on which no one is allowed
to drive?
Capital
Improvements Plan: Highway Trust Fund
FY 2003 - FY 2008
COSTS
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Title*
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Pages
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Front (Cover, Award, Organization, Table of Contents)
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$1.224M
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Project Description Forms -
Klingle Road
Environmental/Traffic Studies
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page 330
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$1.9M
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Planned Expenditures
- Klingle Road Bicycle Facility |
page 20
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$260,000.00 |
1991 DC DPW Plans of Proposed
Reconstruction of Klingle Road NW |
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$9.548M |
The scope of
work includes the preparation of plans, specifications and
estimates to upgrade sidewalks, streetlights and tree
plantings to BID (streetscape) standards. Roadways
and alley-drive entrances will be repaired or replaced.
Drainage improvements will be made, and wheelchair ramps
will be constructed to current ADAAG standards where
required. Locations for streetscape improvements to the
Central Business District (Downtown BID Zone) includes:
E St., N.W., 5th
St. to 13th St
F St., N.W., 5th St. to 6th St. and 9th St. to 15th St.
G St., N.W., 5th St. to 6th St and 10th St. to 15th St.
13th St., N.W., Pennsylvania Ave. to H St.
11th St., N.W., E St. to F St.
10th St., N.W., F St. to G St.
9th St., N.W., E St. to F St. |
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$4.450M |
The
Department will embark on neighborhood commercial
streetscape improvements on the Federal-aid Highway
System. The neighborhoods will be determined through
coordination with the D. C. Office of Planning. Proposed
locations include:14th Street, N.W.
Georgia Avenue
New York Avenue
Anacostia (martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, S.E.)
Takoma (Piney Branch Road, Blair Road and Carroll Street) |
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$4.390M |
The
Reeves Center at 14th and U Streets, N.W.
The scope of work includes sidewalks, curbs, gutters, and
streetlights, repairing tree boxes, replace litter boxes and
other streetscape improvements at the three proposed
government centers. Improved traffic channelization,
signage, new traffic control signals and other traffic and
streetscape improvements. |
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$4.729M |
The scope of
work includes planning, designing and constructing new
streets, curbs, gutters, sidewalks, streetlights, litter
boxes and street trees in support of a new housing
development in
Southeast Washington. |
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$5.940M |
This project will improve
the streetscape on local streets in the
Marshall Heights community.
Work also includes improving sidewalks, curbs, gutters,
street trees, street lights, traffic control signals and
litter boxes. |
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$4.688M |
The planned improvements
include sidewalk and median reconstruction, new pedestrian
lighting and street furniture, tree planting and landscaping
for the entire eleven block area. Also included are
concentrations of improvements for special places such as
the Metro station at
New Jersey Avenue and
entrance to the Navy Yard at 8th and 9th Street. |
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$4.741M |
Repaint Chain Bridge over
Potomac River |
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$4.146M |
Repainting E. Capitol St Bridge over Anacostia
River. |
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$14.750M |
Repainting 10th St Mall Over SW
Freeway & D Street |
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$191.065M |
PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
This project is in response to the Transportation Equity Act
for the 21st Century (TEA-21), Public Law 105-178 and
TEA-21Restoration Act (Title IX of H.R. 2676). Under the
law, the District is allowed to use $97.8 million out of the
full $173 million for Local Street improvements and the
remaining $75.2 million for National Highway System
activities. The project matching requirements will be 15%
local and 85% federal. The $173 million may require as much
as $31 million in matching funds. Use of the $173 million is
restricted to the 4 year under contract or construction
clause in the law.
SCOPE OF WORK:
Priority projects using the $98 million will focus on
system preservation and rehabilitation. Projects will
include neighborhood/local street resurfacing contracts,
local street upgrading and reconstruction, historic alley
rehabilitation, dead tree removal and replacement, street
signs, pavement markings, lighting, and bridge painting. The
remaining $75 million will be transferred to the Districts
National Highway System (NHS) program. The bulk of the funds
are earmarked for the D.C. NHS Asset Preservation
Demonstration Project. The remaining funds will be used for
capital needs on the NHS or the funds will be transferred to
the Surface Transportation Program. A performance-based
asset management demonstration pilot project will encompass
approximately 80 miles on the Districts National Highway
System- Interstate, freeways and principal arterials. This
project will privatize NHS maintenance and daily operations,
routine bridge and highway maintenance,
landscaping/cleaning, incident management, lighting, signs,
pavement markings and signal repairs, bridge painting and
snow removal. |
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