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.