Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-01-17
SUGGEST HIGHWAY CHANGES
Letter From Brightwood Citizens Associa-
ton Committee on the Subject.
Alleged Defects in the District Com
missfOners' Plans Pointed Out,
With Comments

The following letter has been addressed
by committee of the Brightwood Avenue
Citizens Association, of which Mr. Wilton
j. Lambert is chairman, relative to certain
changes recommended by the committee in
the District Commissioners plan of section
1 of the plan of highway extensions:
Gentlemen: In making the request en-
bodied in the map of section 1, made for
us by the Commissioners of the District of
Columbia, our committee has confined itself
within as narrow limits and made as few
examinations and alterations in the general
plan heretofore submitted to the commits
sion as it has deemed possible to do and
protect to any appreciate extent the large
interests intrusted to it by the association
and those of the members of the commit
tee Believing as We have already express
ed to your commission that it was the in
tention of Congress when it went to the ex-
tent of repeating the act of 1893, so far as
it affected the section in questhn that
only the main arteries necessary to per
feet a skeleton plan of direction should be
projected, and that in taking this unusual
and definite action Congress in fact recog-
niZed this as being to the best interests of
the public and individual property holder,
we would, in designating a map in full con-
formity with our ideas of Justice to ALL
have recommended the elimination of over
70 per cent of those highways proposed by
the Commissioners, but bearing in mind the
suggestion of the commission in this regard
we have only touched such streets as most
vitality affect private interests the omis-
SION of which we think will not in the
slightest prejudice the public welfare.
Will Meet Requirements
''In the case of the change of 18th street
1t cannot be denied that even an extern
sion to Brightwood in connection with
PR rot
will more than meet the requirements. and
be all that could be afforded for many
years.
Case of Military Road.
In the case of the widening and perpet-
uation of Military road the condition is
presented of proposition to abandon part
of thoroughly established and wall-kept
thoroughfaTe, thereby badly cutting and
inJuring private property, as well as in
curing vast expense, when by following
the well-known course of the long-estab-
lished highway there would result a mini
mum injury to the individual and great
saving to the public.
Regarding the recommendation affect
ing the Saul property, glance a the Com
mlssloners' map will show that these tracts
are so lnjurfouSly and uselassly cut and so
much land taken for streets that it is i'm
perative relief be granted
Inc other streets omitted by us are
such as in no way change the general char
acter of the plan and unless some grave
necessity exists to the contrary, we cannot
see why a single highway should be thrust
upon property owner against his will,
ana to his manifest injury.
Cloud Upon Property.
Those near the District line on the north
are certainly far In excess of the possible
requirements for generations to come, and
IN all fairness ought not, We submit, to be
cast as cloud upon private property In
forming our conclusion in these matters
we nave not been unmindful of the argu-
ment of the Commissioners that failure
now to indicate streets upon paper would
lead to so-called misfit subdivisions and
possible confusion in the location of I'M
proVements, but we believe that every YES
tlge OF these objections disappears when
brought face to face with the unrepealed
sections OF the act of 1893, which provide
that after the general map has been record
ed no further subdivision of any land in
cluded therein shall be admitted to record
unless the same be first approved by the
commissioners of the District of Columbia
ana be IN conformity with such general
map"
The communication is signed by Wilton J.
Lambert, chairman; Louis p. Shoemaker
j. A Saul, N. E. Robinson, Edward T.
Bates. committee.