Commuters passing through Deanwood have long struggled with Minnesota Avenue NE. The street currently dead-ends northeast-bound at Sheriff Road and southwest-bound at Meade Street, forcing drivers to fight through back roads to make up the quarter-mile break. Now the District Department of Transportation has discovered that closing the gap will be a struggle, too. Planners seeking to build the missing link originally thought the necessary 90-foot right of way was in hand. But a boundary study this year found that portions of the proposed roadway would run through privately owned land. “The records were askew, but we’re going back to the community with the correct records now,” says project manager Ronald Mitchell. Mitchell declines to comment on the number of private properties that will be affected if the department follows through with the project, though he says the area is largely undeveloped land. —Dave Jamieson