Klingle Road runs from Porter Street to Cortland Place in Woodley Park and Cleveland Park, but it’s been abandoned for years. The District has been working with residents to decide whether Klingle should reopen as a road or a trail, and the decision is finally in: we’re getting a new trail.

The video, from Anchor Construction, shows how hard it can be to take an abandoned road and turn it into something people on bikes and foot can use. For example, a stream has completely taken over the valley Klingle Road runs through, eroding the land around it. Homeless people often live under the bridge, and part of the old road runs over a Metro line.

To fix up the road, the crew has to redirect the stream so it runs under the coming trail. The stream slowly ate away the land where the road was, making a dangerous drop-off right next to where the trail will go, so they’ll need to fix that as well. Also, there are exposed gas pipes they’ll need to remove.

It is fascinating to think about a stream taking over a road over 20 years. The new trail will be a great connector for the neighborhoods and Rock Creek Park.

Abigail Zenner, is a former lobbyist turned communications specialist. She specializes in taking technical urban planning jargon and turning it into readable blog posts. When she’s not nerding out about urban planning, transportation, and American History, you may find her teaching a fitness class. Her blog posts represent her personal views only.