Part of DCist’s very nearly award-winning Deluge ’06 coverage

If you get on Rock Creek Parkway at Calvert and Connecticut in Northwest to drive through gorgeous Rock Creek Park on your daily commute, then you, too, have been experiencing a series of headaches and u-turns the past few days. Though local radio has been reporting that parts of the RCP have been reopened, a significant portion of it is still closed.

We found a press release from the National Park Service dated Tuesday, June 27th which states that the damage done to the parkway is indeed more severe than the damage sustained after Hurricane Isabel in 2003. On the environmental side, over-saturated soil has led to erosion and less stable ground, numerous trees have fallen, and debris clutters the beloved thoroughfare. The release relays that Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway from the Maryland-District of Columbia line to just north of Thompson’s Boathouse near Virginia Avenue, N.W. is “closed until further notice”. DCist put a call into their press contact, but we just got a busy signal.

As for when RCP is to fully reopen, we’ll post an update if we hear any news. Until then, it looks like cutting through the city, adding extra driving time and taking many deep breaths will be the best way to get through these Rock Creek Parkway-less days. And avoid that Calvert entrance; the ‘do not enter’ sign doesn’t seem to be going away anytime soon.