Trail connection option C. Image from DDOT.

The Klingle Valley Trail Final Environmental Assessment is now available, and with one exception the most trail user-friendly and stream-friendly options were chosen as the best alternatives.

The preferred alternatives include the fully restored stream bank and lights along the trail, which should aid bike commuters. The hours of illumination would even be limited and timed to correspond to prime commuting hours.

For the trail connection to the Rock Creek Trail, they chose the best option, Option C, which creates a separated side path along the south side of Klingle Road and along the ramp before connecting with the Rock Creek Trail below Porter Street, NW. However, they but modified it by narrowing the trail a bit. Instead of being 6-10 feet wide, it will be 6-8 feet wide.

The existing 20-foot wide vehicle travel lane will be narrowed to 12 to 14 feet wide, and the trail would be separated from the road by a curb. It’s unclear how much of the trail would have been 10 feet wide before the modification, so this is a small loss.

The one place where the preferred alternative differed from what users might have asked for was in the width of the trail (in scanning the comments I saw more calls for a wider trail than narrow; but mostly it’s people who want the road back or no build).

Instead of being 12 feet wide, they chose the 10-foot option. 10 feet is sufficient, and this trail may not be as busy as others, but 12 would have been better. The report doesn’t give a justification for the preferences, but cost is a good guess.

The whole project, if the preferred alternative is built, would cost between $7 and $10 million $4.5 and $7 million.