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The GeorGeTown CurrenT

Wednesday, October 4, 2017

Vol. XXVII, No. 9

Serving Burleith, Foxhall, Georgetown, Georgetown Reservoir & Glover Park

New Klingle Trail faces repair work

GREEN THUMB

■ Transportation: Drainage

system among issues, city says

By GRACE BIRD Current Staff Writer

Last week, three months after the Klingle Valley Trail’s longawaited opening, the park was briefly closed for asphalt repairs caused by a fallen tree. But its problems don’t stop

there. Two August storms flooded the trail, indicating a faulty drainage system, according to Paul Hoffman of the D.C. Department of Transportation. In the coming weeks, Klingle Valley Trail’s drainage system will undergo large-scale repairs that will require extensive but temporary closures, Hoffman said. The 0.7-mile trail for pedestrians and bicyclists follows a longclosed stretch of Klingle Road

NW through Rock Creek Park, running from Cleveland Park’s Cortland Place NW below Connecticut Avenue to Porter Street. It took two years and $6 million to construct the trail — in large part, officials said, because of elaborate steps taken to avoid the drainage issues that left the old Klingle Road impassable. But more work is needed, according to Hoffman. Upcoming See Klingle/Page 21

Georgetown seeks to preserve bus stops By GRACE BIRD Current Staff Writer

Brian Kapur/The Current

The Dumbarton Oaks Park Conservancy held a volunteer event Saturday in honor of National Public Lands Day to remove invasive plants and help with ongoing restoration efforts at the Georgetown site.

After a successful community effort to preserve DC Circulator service on Georgetown’s stretch of Wisconsin Avenue NW, the local advisory neighborhood commission is now fighting plans to reduce the number of Circulator bus stops. On Monday, ANC 2E (Georgetown, Burleith) unanimously opposed the D.C. Department of Transportation’s proposal to remove six Georgetown stops from the Georgetown-Union Station line. Commissioner Rick Murphy said the cuts would reduce ridership, threatening the line’s viability. The Transportation Department’s proposal, an effort to speed service and increase reliability, targets the following stops within Georgetown: ■ Eastbound Pennsylvania at 28th Street NW; ■ Eastbound M Street at Thomas Jefferson Street NW; ■ North- and southbound Wisconsin Avenue at P

Brian Kapur/Current file photo

The city has proposed eliminating six Georgetown stops from the DC Circulator’s line to Union Station.

Street NW; and ■ North- and southbound Wisconsin at R Street NW. The proposal would leave 11 stops in place on the See Circulator/Page 5

Family, friends recall Wilson math teacher

ANC calls for greater public input on LED lighting plans

By ZOE MORGAN

■ Environment: Critics say

Current Correspondent

From the time Joseph Buckley was a child, he had a love of exploration and learning that would one day bring him back to teach math at Wilson High School, his alma mater. Buckley began teaching at Wilson in 2010, and continued teaching throughout his more than fouryear battle with brain cancer, to which he ultimately succumbed at his Takoma home on Sept. 19. Buckley, who was 38, is survived by his wife Abena Apau-Buckley and their two young children. A memorial service was held in the Wilson auditorium on Sunday, where family and friends spoke about their memories of Buckley. Growing up in the Tenleytown area, Buckley attended Janney Elementary School, Deal Middle

harsh bulbs pose health risks

By GRACE BIRD Current Staff Writer

Photo courtesy of Abena Apau-Buckley

D.C. native Joseph Buckley continued teaching at Wilson High School even as he battled brain cancer. and then Wilson High. After teaching in New York City for three years, Buckley returned to the District and taught at St. John’s College High School. Then, in 2010, Buckley returned to his alma mater. Apau-Buckley said her husband was drawn to helping students who had trouble connecting with the material, and wanted to show them that learning was See Teacher/Page 2

Long-delayed efforts to install energy-saving LED bulbs on the city’s 75,000 streetlights pushed forward last month when officials announced they had begun evaluating 11 contractors who applied for the modernization job. But as the D.C. Department of Transportation advances its LED plans, community concerns remain about the lights’ appearance. Spe-

cifically, many residents have requested that bulbs have a lower Kelvin rating — meaning that they’d have a warmer yellow hue rather than a harsher, colder bluewhite. On Monday, Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2E (Georgetown, Burleith) unanimously asked city officials to consult with the community to determine which bulbs are appropriate for which streets. “This is a community issue, so that’s why we want to be involved,” ANC 2E chair Joe Gibbons said. “Our job is to give advice, and if See Lights/Page 5

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