DC Klingle Valley: Back Road Battle

Washington, DC – Councilmember Mary Cheh joins God, Nature and Ward 3 to preserve Klingle Valley from Mayor Adrian Fenty and Councilmember Jim Graham's attempts to pave through woodland that nature is reclaiming. Over 17 years ago an Act of God washed out the poorly maintained Klingle Road. The DC Government abandoned the seldom used road and Nature took back its property rights.

Now Mayor Fenty and Ward 1's Graham want to spend $2 million to study the feasibility of spending $11 million for a second attempt to blacktop Klingle Valley. “Roadies” celebrate this latest ill-fated charge down “Desperation Drive” where drivers once cut seconds off their commutes.

At least this road project may benefit a few motorists. Klingle Road could provide a gateway for Ward 3's Georgetown and American University students to Ward 1's bar district, Adams Morgan. This project exceeds the public-need standards of the aesthetically pleasing lowering of the South Capitol Street Bridge entrance for the Nationals Park elite attendees and the locals who live in poverty.

Councilmember Mary Cheh in the spirit of 15th Century Saint, Joan of Arc defends her Ward 3 soil. The Examiner reports that Cheh considers the project an “environmental mistake” and the allocation “unfortunate”.

Will $11 million be enough? In the city's continuing neglect some of the Jersey barricades protecting the roadway shown in DC Department of Transportation year 2006 photos have since tumbled into the expanding stream bed.

With the state of the economy tightening the city budget, why build an unneeded road in an inhospitable environment?