Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-09-20
TRAFFIC DETOURED
FROM CANAL ROAD
Sewer Construction Forces
Closing of Stretch Until
October 29.

Travellers who use Canal road must
continue to make a detour through
Conduit road until about october 90,
while sewer work is in progress on a
narrow stretch Of Canal road near Me-
braska avenue. The detour is and
six-tenths miles long. The stretch OF
Canal road of which the motorists must
be steered is miles long.
For many years motorists have been
accustomed to detouring of parts OF
Canal road during the daytime while
men have been working on the sewer,
but the present detour Is IN effect "a
hours a day. In the past, when opera
lions in the middle of the road necesSi-
tated shutting OF traffic during the
working hours, BUSES. milk wagons and
mail trucks we're allowed through with
special watchmen. Now all trafnc Is
barred.
Explains Slow Progress.
Explaining the long and cumbersome
operation, which has now been going on
for 10 years, Sanitary Engineer j. B..
Gordon pointed out that the sewer Is
not one for which there Is a pressing
need at the moment, and that it has
proceeded at its leisurely pace in or
der not to tie up too much Of the de-
partment's funds and men needed on
more urgent jobs. It Is eventually plan
ned that the sewer will intercept sew
age In the Potomac Valley north of
Canal road, including sewage from
Maryland in the Chevy Chase and Glen
Echo sections. This sewage now pours
into the Potomac River. The work has
been progressing on annual appropria-
lions ranging from $4,000 to $4,000
per year and ultimately will cost about
$750,000. It viii go as far as Chain
Bridge, shortly west of which it viii
split into two branches, one to inter-
cept sewage from Chevy Chase and one
for Glen Echo sewage.
Before the decision to bar all traffic,
which was put into effect July %, Mr..
Gordon said he considered putting the
men to work in three shifts so as to
shorten the time necessary for keep
ing the roadway out of use. He de-
cided against it, he said, because the
sewer Is being dynamited through solid
rock and it would be extremely hazard
GUS to have three changes of workers
every day, when there is always a
chance that the incoming shift would
not be told about some particular blast
ing operation, with risk of loss of
life or damage to the roadway.
Blasted Through Rock.
| The sewer is being hewn through q
I layer Of solid rock, and at its present
location is about 20 feet below the road
surface.
| When the sewer gets past the present
stretch Of narrow roadway Canal road
/ will once more be opened to traffic ex-
cept during the working hours. The
morning and evening rush-hour traffic
will be left to make its way past the
open work. During working hours, how
ever. most Of the roadway will be taker
up with trucks of the material men
and the roadway will continue closed tc
traffic as before. This will 90 on until
some time In the 1884 or 1885 fisca
years. when the job will reach compile.
ton after IL or IS years.
Meanwhile the citizens of Arlington
and Fairfax Counties who reach Wash.
lngton by Chain Bridge are not happy
over the situation, but apparently theI
must restrain their wrath and get wha'
satisfaction they can out of contemplat.
ing the fact that if all Of the Sewel
Departments energies had been devoted
10 their convenience the sewage prob
lens OF most Of Washington would have
been IN pretty bad way.