Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-10-02
STREETS
The Annual Report of the Engineer in
Charge.
The Progress That Has Been Made
System Of Street Naming and Block
Numbering Proposed.

The annual report Of Engineer w. p.
Richards, in charge of the extension Of
streets, was submitted to the Engineer Com
missioner today. The report Is substantially
as follows:
Operations have been mainly upon the
preparation Of plans for a permanent sys-
tenn OF highways under the act Of March,
1893. Surveys and plats have also been
made to carry out the provisions Of the act
of 1855 whenever the recording Of new sub
divisions has rendered such necessary.
LAS the act on highways directed the
plans to be prepared in sections. that part
Of the District above Florida avenue and
between North Capitol street extended and
Rock creek was selected as the first section
to be disposed Of. This includes the most
irregular groups Of subdivisions In the Dis
trict-Le Droit Park. Meridian HILL Mt
Pleasant, &c.-none OF them conforming
gard to each other.
LAS an initial step a small-scale map was
made of the section. showing the present
highways, together with proposed lines of
new streets. For a thorough study, as well
as for final matter of record, large-scale
maps of the most irregular subdivisions, in
Guiding all between Florida avenue and
Spring road. were plotted and Autographed.
"A considerable amount of field work was
necessary In order to aid in the plotting
and to establish the true relations between
were lacking or doubtful Upon these lth-
ographs tentative plans were laid down
and much detail study given to the location
or the proposed streets. After permanent
locations had been decided upon, new sheets
We're prepared for record. These show how
all the lots Of the various subdivisions are
anected by the new streets, the changed
Instances and areas being given In each lot
Several thousand lots have been included
In whole or in part by the permanent
lines. which has involved a great amount
or calculation. In unsubdlvided or agri-
cultural parts all block distances are
shown without reference to property lines
This section Is spread upon forty mans
each twenty by thirty-six inches in size
All subdivisions. including parts lithograpb-
ed, We're drawn to a scale of one inch to
100 feet For the unsubdivided portions one
inch to 100 feet was found sufficient These
maps have yet to be submitted TO the
commission for alterations and APPROVAL
Before being delivered for record the maps
are to be bound in volume. with index and
all necessary explanations.
Plan for Block NumberfnR.
Considerable work has been done on a
system for the suburban parts of the
northeast, which has been taken I'D as the
second section. Street naming and block
numbering Is matter that should be de-
cloed tpon as soon as the first section has
been recorded. and would suggest that the
best system of street nomer clature is that
ordered by the Commissioners under the
subdivision act of 1885, Numerous dis
cuss IONS and printed articles have appeared
on this subject, but l have not seen any i'm
provement on the present system
Suggestions have been offered from time
TO time OF plan for doing away with the
naming OF subdivisions and the multiplying
or block numbers. There are over seventy
subdivisions, each having blocks numbered
L, ., etc. Continuous block numbering
could be applied to the first with good re-
suits, and L suggest the following method
De followed, which is mewhat after the
city system of starting at Boundary and
running the numbers from It:
FIRST, start at Florida avenue between
North Capitol and LIST street west with The
number l3p running north with consecu-
1--WE numbers to the District line. Then
again. at Florida avenue between LIST and
"a streets. the numbers running as before
Under the law OF SO eight subdivisions
nave been laid out upon lines given by the
Office and have been recorded. Detail sur
veys have been made and plats prepared
for the donation of Nebraska Massachu-
sets and Rhode Island avenues.
Barry Farm. This subdivision is the
most irregular and the most troublesome in
the District, and before ii can be made 10
accord with any system considerable field
work VIII be necessary for establishing
the present recorded street lines The sub
division seems to have been first plated
ana surveyed inaccurately and many points
have been lost. while some recent SURVEYS
nave been added to the confusion"