If you don’t often drive through or near Rock Creek Park on your daily commute, the fact that Broad Branch Road reopened to traffic today might not be a big deal. But for those that do, it’s a huge deal.

After heavy storms last April, some particularly nasty sinkholes appeared along the road, which ferries thousands of cars a day from Upper Northwest and Maryland into the District. After looking into the problem, transit officials realized that a significant stretch of the roadway would have to be rebuilt altogether. In most cases, that wouldn’t be such a problem. But this being D.C. and there being so many juridictions involved, it was, according to the D.C. Department of Transportation:

The necessary permanent repairs to Broad Branch Road will be relatively complex, and will involve multiple local and federal agencies. Because Soapstone Creek is involved, DDOT will need a permit from the US Army Corp of Engineers (USACE). Because Rock Creek Park is involved, DDOT will need a permit from the National Park Service (NPS). Both agencies have been advised of the emergency need to complete this repair, and all agencies are now collaborating on this project.

As the city jumped through the jurisdictional hoops, it placed a one-way bridge atop the roadway to allow traffic to pass. Late last year, the road was closed down completely for repairs.

So why all the excitement that the road is reopening? Because far too many people who use Broad Branch still remember the Klingle Road saga, which suffered similar fate as Broad Branch but was never rebuilt.