On Feb. 14, the D.C. Firefighters
Association reaffirmed its support for reopening Klingle Road. After
Sept. 11, concerns about its loss intensified because of the need to
have full access to all roads to allow emergency personnel to get around
the city.
A transportation study released in
September concluded that opening Klingle Road would provide significant
transportation advantages to surrounding roads and would affect travel
speeds, reduce traffic accidents and delays, and improve overall
service. Keeping this public road closed to vehicular traffic would be a
monumental mistake.
The District spent more than $250,000 and
two years studying alternatives for Klingle Road, yet at a Feb. 20 D.C.
Council oversight hearing, the city's department of transportation
proposed that the money "saved" by not repairing Klingle Road
could be used for a study to understand the need for mobility across the
park and to explore more alternatives.
Enough.
The study and the Ward 1 Comprehensive
Plan state that the principal defect in transportation is the lack of
east-west service, because primary routes for travel across Rock Creek
are one-half mile to one mile apart. We cannot continue to travel north
and south to go east and west.
LAURIE COLLINS
Washington
The writer is a member of the Advisory
Neighborhood Commission in Mount Pleasant and a member of the Coalition
to Repair and Reopen Klingle Road.
