Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-03-12
LEE HIGHWAY WORK
!. WILL BEGIN SOON
Reconstruction of Key Bridge.
CherrydaIe Link Planned
by Commission.

BY a STAFF Correspondent OF The star.
RICHMOND, Va, March i2-With
preliminary surveys virtually completed,
reconstruction of the Lee Highway from
the Key Bridge through Cherrydale will
begin within few weeks. weather per-
hitting, according to Henry G. Shirley.
chairman Of the State Highway Com
mission.
The road will be widened to IS feet
and al dangerous curves will be
Strengthened. The paving will be of
concrete or asphalt. Shirley said.
The new width will accommodate
safely three lanes of traffic. sufficient
TO take care of tie 5000 cars day
now congesting the narrow. torturous
macadam approach TO the bridge.
Boulevard in Prospect.
Shirley expressed regret that the
highway commission had been palked
in its efforts to secure 60-foot right
OF way for the new road. The commits
sion had hoped to obtain an S0-foot
right of way. but this was impossible.
The 6o-foot strip. however, will en-
able the State to make of the highway
eventually a four-lane boulevard, in
furtherance Of plans already in the
mind Of Chairman Shirley.
Decision has been reached, after much
study. 10 solve the congested bottle
neck" problem in Cherrydale by split
ting the highway for 500 feet through
this town, so that west-bound traffic
will follow a one-wav road around the
Peoples State Bank and across the
tracks of the Old Dominion Railroad.
Although such diversion of traffic
will create two grade crossings-one
near the bank at the east end of
Cherrydale. and another near the little
station at the foot Of the hill to the
west OF town-Shirley declared there
was no other way to meet the situation.
An original proposal 10 move the
bank and the railway tracks out Of the
way Of the road aroused such q storm
OF protest from property owners along
the railway that the plan had to be
abandoned. Shirley explained.
Grade Crossings.
Residents along the north side of
the tracks objected vigorously to any
plan for moving the rails close to their
front yards. They said they would pre-
fer having the highway abutting their
property than the railroad. We could
have moved the bank without much
difficulty had not the plan for moving
the tracks been Objectionable TO the
citizens"
Shirley expressed the opinion that
the grade crossings would not be haz-
ardous. as there is but little trafic over
the railway.
The highway commission has $4,000
with which 70 tackle the project, Shir-
ley said. While the State funds set
pSai - I.
come available until July. Shirley and
Gov. Byrd have assured State Senator
Frank L. Ball that a way has been
found 10 begin actual construction with
out delay.
One obstacle to final completion Of
the plans yet remains TO be overcome,
Shirley disclosed. It is the problem pre-
Sented at RoSslyn, where the terminal
tracks OF the Old Dominion parallel the
highway and cross over into the rear OF
the station. Some difficulty has been
experienced in obtaining a 60-foot right
of-way through this section, he said,
but 1t Is expected that DEVELOPMENTS
now under way" will result In acouisi-
ton Of the necessary property He re-
fused to make public the nature OF these
developments.
Lee Highway Problem.
Shirley fs deeply impressed with the
urgency OF the Lee Highway problem.
He points out that traffic count made
By the highway commission showed that
an average OF 1884 vehicles used this
road daily during 1927. The count was
made near Park Lane. OF this daily
average 1880 were Virginia passenger
cars. 1855 were foreign" cars, ATT were
heavy trucks and 1872 were light COM
nnercial vehicles
A similar count on the Richmond
washington highway at q point near
the Highway Bridge disclosed a daily
average during the past year Of approx
naately 1900 vehicles, he added.