Overview
Klingle Road previously carried some 3,200 vehicles per day (that's over
100,100,000 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.
The residents at the top of the closed portion of Klingle Road have successfully reduced traffic through their neighborhood for ten years by their self-serving hamstringing of our public works facilities.
Klingle Road remains a [90-foot right] of way (ROW) on the
federal-aid system and has not been administratively closed by
the Council of the District of Columbia. The District
Division of Transportation (DDOT), under the District of
Columbia Department of Public Works, is responsible for the
maintenance of Klingle Road.*
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 Cleveland Park and Woodley Park and want to see Klingle Road remain closed
to protect their property values and don't want traffic
through their neighborhood.
Wouldn't we all like to close the road in front of our homes?
Klingle Road is a historic landmark.
The road was an original resource to the historic Pierce Mill.
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.
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