Evening star., 1924-08-06
No Parks for Parking!

A proposal has been advanced to
transform Franklin Park into a space
for the parking of motor cars, as one
means of relieving the traffic conges-
tion in the downtown section of the
.!Gity. This cannot be too strongly con-
1dtmned. 1t is astounding that it
should ever have been conceived. and
the hope may be expressed that it will
not receive any serious consideration.
If. however, 1t should be pressed it
will be fought to the last possible
point.
) That the parking problem is grave
in Washington is conceded. BY de-
Srees it has grown into a situation re-
quiring drastic action in cure. Pallia-
tion and temporizing expedients are
ineffective to reach the root of the
evil, which is the habit, encouraged by
=permissive rules. of using the streets
of the city for the al-day placing of
motors, brought downtown in the
morning and left until afternoon. In
few other cities is this tolerated
Washington stands almost alone in
thus encouraging the use of the
streets as garages, to the disadvantage
sof business. the danger Of all street
users and the threat, as at present, to
destroy the Capitals chief beauty.
that of the public reservations.
:. If one of the public parks can be
thus set aside as a parking space all
OF them may be. First Franklin Park,
then perhaps Mcpherson Square, then
Farragut Square, possibly that por-
ton of Mount Vernon Square remain
ing around the walls of the Public
Libary. Who could guarantee the Sc
curity of Lafayette Park from such
spoliation? And then, why not the
Mall, already encroached upon by the
Temporary" war buildings, and Poto-
mac Park, the site of other item:
porary'' buildings, made of such stout
material that their removal is prob
;lematical?
= The nose of the camel once thrust
into the tent is quickly followed by
the entire body of the animal One
park taken for the storage of motor
oars, and all will be endangered. For
the taking of such spaces would be a
confession that the parking problem
cannot be solved save by making 1t
worse.
g.. Recently in an endeavor to provide
more space for traffic Thirteenth
street was widened and two rows of
trees several blocks In length were de-
stroyed. Those trees will never be re.
placed. One of the most attractive fea-
lures of Washington is its tree
growth. In Franklin Park are some
of the noblest trees in the city. To
make room for a few more motor cars
for all-day parking all of them would
be uprooted. A space that is now the
joy of a great many people would be
turned over to crowds of machines.
So unthinkable is the proposition
that 1t must be viewed as falling of it's
own weight. There really need be no
grave fear on the score of its success.
But its very proposal is to be taken as
a. disturbing token of disposition in
the handling of this problem to sacri-
fice anything except the persistent
habit of the Washington motorist to
ttSe the public spaces for the storage
CT his car in order that he may get
downtown and return home cheaply
in his daily round.
Other cities have solved this prob
lem. Washington should solve it. But
the solution does not lie in the spolia.
tion of the parks or the sacrifice of
the trees. 1t lies in the application Of
a, common sense rule that the streets
and public spaces are not to be used
for the storage of idle machines for
hours at a time.