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  The Cause


Transportation Impact

The benefits do not only impact Klingle Road.  

T
he Transportation Study (Appendix D) concluded that opening Klingle Road would provide significant transportation benefits overall. These benefits accrue to the entire area considered in the Transportation Study. This area includes major arteries in Cleveland Park and Woodley Park, such as Connecticut Avenue, Porter Street, Woodley Road, Cleveland Avenue, etc., and congested intersections such as Connecticut and Porter.

Klingle Road is one of the few non-grade crossings of Connecticut Avenue that we have. Non-grade crossings have special status in the realm of transportation system design, because they avoid the need for intersections and control systems. 

If Klingle Road were reopened, there would be a reduction in stop delays at the intersection of Porter Street and Connecticut Avenue, thereby improving travel speeds along Porter Street. Berger D-8.

Although most of the intersection approaches would continue to operate with the same level of service as under the no build condition, average vehicle delays and volume to capacity (v/c) ratio would be significantly reduced.  Berger D-8

Within the Berger report study area, traffic accidents overall will be reduced, traffic delays will be reduced and levels of service overall will be improved.  Berger D-10.

In fact, only one of the studied intersections, namely Woodley and 34th, will see any increase in traffic, due to the shift in the traffic patterns which will return traffic levels to where the were before. Nevertheless, even with Klingle Road open, according to the Transportation Study, Woodley and 34th will operate at a better level of service than any of the other intersections in the study area.

Klingle Road is an important and necessary cross-town artery -- this has been true historically for over a century and continues to be true today -- rather than being "unnecessary," Klingle Road has become increasingly more necessary in recent years.   The
closing of Klingle Road has impacted Porter Street and its intersection with Connecticut Avenue. Before and after turning movement counts at the intersection of Porter Street and Connecticut Avenue show an increase of traffic turning onto Connecticut Avenue.... traffic oriented southbound on Connecticut Avenue increase more than 100 percent. (Exhibit 14)

Klingle Road is a significant cross-town route for many DC citizens, and is particularly important for the elderly and those who depend on automobiles for their transportation needs.  In 1990, Klingle Road carried an average 3,200 vehicles per day.

Without Klingle Road, traffic is increased on Porter Street, Connecticut Avenue, Devonshire, Tilden, Calvert, Macomb, Newark, Cathedral, Ordway, and through the National Zoo.

In order to make up for the lost transportation capacity of Klingle Road, it will become necessary to widen other cross-town routes, such as Porter Street.

Klingle Road passes underneath Connecticut Avenue, avoiding the bottleneck at Connecticut Avenue and Porter Street.

Repairing Klingle Road will alleviate the bottleneck and increase pedestrian and motorist safety at Connecticut Avenue and Porter Street.

Repairing Klingle Road will reduce lines of traffic headed West up the hill on Porter Street to Connecticut Avenue and will reduce the associated idling while cars wait to get through the bottleneck.

Public transportation across town is insufficient.

Repairing Klingle Road will significantly reduce driving time between nearby neighborhoods and across town.


The rhetoric that repairing Klingle Road will become choked with commuter traffic has no factual basis -- on the contrary, anecdotal evidence reveals that Klingle Road was never crowded during rush hours.  Further, assuming commuter traffic becomes a problem, there are many ways to address this short of closing the street. 
Nevertheless, the Klingle Road Feasibility Study shows that opening Klingle Road will divert traffic from the intersection of Porter Street and Connecticut Avenue sufficient to immediately improve the Level of Service (LOS) for morning traffic on southbound Connecticut Avenue from a B to an A.  With Klingle Road opened, the approach will continue to operate at LOS A through 2017; however, with Klingle Road closed, this approach will deteriorate to LOS C by 2017. Similarly, all of the signalized intersections studied will be improved overall by opening Klingle Road.

The enclave surrounding the upper end of Klingle Road (Klingle and Woodley) already is replete with limited access, one-way streets, including Devonshire Place, Cortland Place, 28th Street, 29th Street.

It is without precedent to close a section of an improved thoroughfare in the middle of it's route, give it over to a park, and thereby make the street discontinuous.


For additional information, please email support@repairklingleroad.org