Evening star., 1928-12-01
CHANGE IS URGED
IN STREET WORK
Special Committee Recon-
mends Radical Departures
to D. c. Commissioners.

Sweeping changes in the District gov
ernment's methods in planning and
executing all street improvement work
are called for in report drawn up by
a committee created by the District
Commissioners to study the problem.
The report is now before the city heads
for consideration. and it is expected to
be acted upon early next week.
Among the radical departures from
old procedure suggested are the fol-
lowing:
Creation of a new position in the
highway department of co-ordinator
Of public improvement programs, to
dictate and direct the sequence and
time Of all street operations.
Would Abolish Committee.
Abolishing of the present committee
on underground construction previous
to paving, which seeks to coordinate
street.cutting work.
Requiring the District government it
self to seek and obtain permits for all
cuts to streets except in emergency
cases.
Abolishing the system of issuing
blanket permits for street cuts and re-
quiring instead permit for each sepa-
Creation of a trafic advisory board
to investigate and make recommenda-
tions concerning the zoning of streets
for use, types and weights of vehicles.
bus routings uses of public streets,
parking applied to highway plans and
alterations and other matters.
Board Is Recommended.
The report recommends the creation
Of permanent project and engineer
ing board. consisting of the three mill
tary assistants to the Engineer Com
missioner and the co-ordinator, who is
to act as executive secretary of the
board. The board is to be given the
duty of examining and passing upon
the design, specifications and advisable
ity OF all public improvement programs
initiated by and under the direction
of the engineer department, to CO.
ordinate the estimates for the work
where several departments are con-
cerned and to review the program of
public utility companies.
The co-ordinator, the committee
recommended, should be an official of
the Highway Department, because of
the constant contact with that depart
ment which the details of his work
would call for.
Excessive Cutting Curbed.
The recent complaints of excessive
cutting up of street surfaces, especially
those newly laid, bore fruit in the
recommendation in the report that i'm
mediately after a paving project is
ordered, all property owners adjacent
be notified that any new service connec-
tions involving cutting of the pavement
win be forbidden for two years follow
ing the completion Of the work, except ,
IN emergency cases. The notice would
be given in time for the property owners
to have any work contemplated done
before the pavement job was begun.
The report also recommended that
the sanitary engineer be required on
or before February /, 1929 to submit
report to the co-ordinating committee
looking to the Standardization of all
manhole castings, as too many types
are now In use, some Of obsolete de-
sign
This Standardization is also recon-
mended for "detour" and street closed"
signs.
The report carries a complete and
highly technical list of instructions for
contractors and others to follow in
making cuts in the pavement and the
subsequent backfill and urges the adop-
ton Of these recommendations as a
code.