April 16 2008
by Laurie Collins.  Printed in the NW Current

Finally (and thankfully), we have a mayor who, along with Ward 1 Council member Jim Graham and others, is demanding accountability by allocating D.C. funds to complete the D.C. Council's mandate to fund the repair and reopening of Klingle Road.

The draft environmental impact statement already recommended rebuilding a two-lane road for vehicular traffic as the best environmental solution. It is well-settled that the road's collapse, and the city's failure to rebuild it, has caused more damage to the environment.

Absurdly, the Federal Highway Administration has been jerking the D.C. Department of Transportation around for three years, contributing to increased costs.

These costs are already high because of years of misplaced opposition to reopening the road, which we all know should have been done immediately in 1991 at a far lower cost.

Today's Klingle Road presents an appalling health hazard. The action taken by the mayor and Council member Graham arises out of frustration with bureaucratic indifference and incompetence, and for them to step forward is brilliant.