Who was doing the sewage line work on Broad Branch Road?

by Marlene Berlin

Broad Branch Road has been closed off at times over the last couple of weeks at Linnean Avenue. And there is a curious sign that remains in place saying “No outlet.”

The signs started going up a couple of weeks ago and then fully unveiled late in the week of May 15th. The road was closed off by a truck, and a workman said that they were working on improving the roadway. Then, last Thursday I was walking with a friend showing off our Broad Branch stream reconstruction and saw the roadway closed off again. Further down men were digging out a trench across the road at a driveway that looked like a back entrance to Ingleside Terrace at Rock Creek.

I went up to talk to the workmen and was told that this was a replacement of a water run off sewage line. The trench would be closed by the end of the day, but they would be back another day and close off the roadway to finish the job.

This sounded like a DC Water project but there were no DC Water trucks to be seen. An email to the area’s ANC 3F rep, Naomi Rutenberg, yielded no further information, nor did a search of the DC Water web site, which lists active projects. I sent an email to John Lisle, who manages customer relations for DC Water, and he tells me they are researching this further. I will keep you posted on further developments.