Independent Transportation and Environmental
Expert Reviews Klingle Road Feasibility Study*
September 30, 2002   
*UPDATE:  In response to a layman's attempt to discredit this report, MCV
Associates responds.

MCV ASSOCIATES, INC., an independent transportation and environmental consulting firm that has conducted transportation planning and traffic engineering studies in the District of Columbia for over 20 years, recently completed an independent assessment and cost-benefit analysis based on traffic data and environmental assessment (EA) information in the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) 2001 Klingle Road Feasibility Study.   

MCV Associates found that repairing Klingle Road would reduce toxic emissions from cars by hundreds of tons during the life of the road and result in over 20 fewer tons per year of toxic air pollutants like carbon monoxide and nitrous oxide that are released into the atmosphere in neighborhoods near Klingle Road.  Repairing Klingle Road also would reduce accidents and save motorists at least $20 million dollars in reduced travel time and operating costs over the life of the road. 

MCV Associates obtained idling emission factors for the Washington metro area used by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG).  These emission rates were utilized, along with the estimated travel-time savings (due to reduction in stopped or idling delay), to compute the reduction in emissions.  Every year that Klingle Road remains blocked, we are wasting more time idling in traffic, burning more gasoline, and adding tens of tons of toxic air pollutants to the air we breathe!

 MCV Associates then utilized traffic counts and traffic delays from DDOTs Klingle Road Feasibility Study to estimate travel delays or travel-time savings for motorists driving through the study area.  The computations revealed that the annual travel-time savings in the study area due to the opening of Klingle Road would be a significant 179,837 hours during the AM and PM peak periods.  The overall savings estimates are conservative since travel-time and air pollution savings may also be achieved during the non-peak periods.

 The Klingle Road Feasibility Study also presented cost estimates for the build and no-build alternatives.  This cost data was used by MCV Associates to estimate the cost-benefit ratio for the build condition using methodology presented in American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials documentation.  The user benefits include reductions in delays or travel time, reductions in vehicle operating costs and reductions in accident costs.  The present value of these benefits is estimated at $19.928 million.

 The basic criterion for economic desirability is that the present value of the stream of annual benefits resulting from a project exceeds the present value of the stream of costs associated with implementing the project.  The project to repair Klingle Road has a net present value of over $17 million and a cost-benefit ratio of 7.24.  The project to repair Klingle Road is economically and environmentally desirable for both the residents of the District of Columbia and the District government. 

MCV Associates recently conducted the traffic impact study for the Field School off Foxhall Road.  This study included traffic data collection, capacity and levels of service for the existing conditions and future conditions with the school in operation.  MCV reviewed and critiqued the traffic impact study prepared for the Edmond Burke School located on Upton Street and conducted an independent assessment of the schools expansion, and conducted a traffic impact study for the proposed residential development off Calvert Street, which included traffic data collection, trip generation analysis and capacity/levels of service analysis. Other MCV publications.