 |
FAQ's Why a Park? The Environment Get Involved Current Events Contact
|
Links
See a movie of Klingle Road (2,971k)
See a movie of Klingle Storm-water problems (2,507k)
| The Superintendent of Rock Creek Park,
Adrienne Coleman, publicly opposes any paved road in Klingle Valley
because it would pollute Rock Creek. The closed part of Klingle Road
runs directly alongside Klingle Creek, with no green buffer. A road
would channel contaminated stormwater from Klingle Creek into Rock
Creek, the Potomac, and ulimately the Chesapeake Bay.
The District's environmental protection branch described the problem in a May 1990 letter regarding Klingle road: |
|
"Rock creek has been studied by many agencies many times and each study has concluded that Rock Creek has been severely impacted by the increasingly impervious nature of the development of the drainage basin. Biological life in Rock Creek is limited by the frequent scouring of unregulated urban runoff. While we and the National Park Service and a number of federal and state agencies involved in the Chesapeake Bay restoration effort are striving to restore fish passage up Rock Creek, there needs to be a commensurate effort to attenuate storm runoff such that the food chain necessary to support the fish can become established."
|
Mature
trees have grown right up to the current road's edge. Any road plan
will need to meet current safety standards that require concrete footings
of a specified depth and distance from the road, as well as lighting and
other safety measures. This means that a great number of mature trees will
be felled to re-build the road. Satellite imagery shows that the
District's heavy tree cover has declined by 64 percent
in 25 years. Regarding air quality, the Berger report concluded: "It is unlikely, that any build option would increase traffic, rather existing traffic patterns would shift, and therefore would not produce adverse short-term or long-term impacts on air quality." |
|
|
The road construction itself would be a major threat to the environment. The major excavation and construction in the valley would mean sediment migration and altered runoff pH into Klingle Creek. Critters that feed in the stream can't see through sediment clouded waters. Fish eggs die if they are smothered in silt. Frequently, construction materials alter the pH of water that filters through them. Replacing forested areas with more paved surfaces raises water temperatures in nearby creeks, which kills sensitive aquatic species. Klinge road would need to undermine our current environmental standards to get built. |
|
A small section of the proposed Klingle Road and
which trees would either be cut down, or whose roots would be severely
damaged by road construction.
Find out more about the delicate environment of Klingle Valley