Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-04-06
CHERRY BLOSSOMS
DRAW THOUSANDS
Record Breaking Crowd Is
Expected Today-SpeciaI
Traffic Rules Ordered.

Cherry blossoms in Potomac Park are
expected to draw a record crowd of
motorists and pedestrians today. Every
park policeman will be on duty, and a
count will be kept Of cars passing over
the Inlet Bridge.
superintendent Of the United States
Park Police, and his aide, Capt.
P. ]. Carroll, have made special traffic
arrangements calculated to perfect a
smooth working organization and speed
the thousands Of motorists through the
parks.
For. the first time this season. the
Rainbow Fountain at Seventeenth street,
near the John Paul Jones statue, will be
operated. 1t will be turned on at 10
o'clock and be in play until pm.
One-Way Traffic Is Ordered.
One-way traffic around the Tidal
Basin will prevail, motorists moving
anti-clockwise. On both sides of the
polo field traffic will travel in a south
erly direction. On the cinder road south
of the railroad bridge, near the Tourist
Camp, two-way traffic will obtain, where
hitherto there has been but one-way
movement. This Is especially for the
benefit of golfers.
Countless out-of-town visitors are ex-
pected, and officials of the Office Of
Public Buildings and Public Parks yes
terday urged WashingtonianS to view
the cherry trees during the morning
hours, to give visitors an opportunity to
see them during the crowded afternoon
hours.
The week just closed has witnessed
probably the heaviest traffic in history
around the Tidal Basin.
Park police anticipate traffic tangles
at the outlet from East Potomac Park,
at the underpasS Of the railroad, lead
ing to Fourteenth street. This has long
been considered a. perplexing problem
and several suggestions have been ad-
vanced 70 relieve the situation.
Lieut.. Col. U. 8. Grant, Sd, director
Of public buildings and public parks,
considers that bridge south Of the
railroad, to throw traffic out of Potomac
Park across the Washington Channel to
Water street, is desirable. Water street
could be made one Of the great thor
oughfares Of the city. and this bridge
If constructed, would relieve the present
tangle.
A factor causing congestion is the
Virginia bound traffic that must go over
the Highway Bridge to the Old Do
minion. Complaints have been made
that slow-moving trucks and horse
drawn vehicles have held up the speedy
movement of the trafic stream. A
suggestion has been put forward, I'M
ofhcially, that this slow traffic be bar
| red during the rush hours
Another factor that needs remedying
in the opinion of street and trafic
experts, IS that of placing the street
car tracks, along that section of Four
teefth street that skirts the railroad
and Potomac Park, in the center of
the street.
Capt. Carroll favors construction Of
q comparatively cheap bridge at the
Outlet Bridge, near the Bureau of
Engraving and Printing, so that one
section of the Tidal Basin might be
bridged. When this Is done, he be-
lieveS, park traff1c will be kept in the
park, solving the present difficulty of
throwing park traffic on to Fourteenth
street and then having to bring II back
into the parks again.
Subway Is Proposed.
One suggestion for solving the out
ward flow Of traf11c from Potomac Park
Is that an underpass be constructed to
form subway beneath Fourteenth
street. Engineers, however, frown on
| Is the problem of water to be dealt
with, requiring an expensive pumping
system to keep the subway dry.
While the Arlington Memorial Bridge
now under construction, is expected to
relieve the Highway Bridge of some o:
the Virginia traffic, park police say
that 1t will have no serious bearing or
the cherry blossom traffic, which Is q
! problem all its own.