Evening star., 1934-08-19
ELL|PSE TROLLEY
(. SUBWAY IS URGED
Bartholomew Repeats Ad-
Vocacy to Relieve Down.
town Congestion.

Immediate construction OF subSur'
face passageway for street cars under
the Ellipse, approximately on the lint
of E street, for through east and west
traffic again was advocated yesterday
by Harland Bartholomew, consultant
to the National Capital Park anc
Planning Commission. Previously he
had urged this tunnel in his 1927 re-
port to the commission, which has not
yet taken official action on the pro-
posal.,
Without this" said he, II do not
see how any satisfactory solution OF
the east and west traffic movement
can be devised Lafayette Square, the
White House and the Ellipse form a
barrier at present. A subsurface pas
sageway is public undertaking
rather than a transit company prob
lem, to which solution must be
found.
I'VE are now in a period of public
works. This is an extremely logical
public work and, furthermore, its cost
of construction-placed some time age
at $1,000, ,000-when compared with
the public buildings program is very
little. This represents about per cent
of the cost of the buildings in the
triangle-less than the cost OF one
good building"
Cites Congestion.
Mr. Bartholomew, who appeared be-
fore the Public Utilities Commission
investigating rerouting, on Wednes-
day, said that the heart of the trans
portation problem lies in the area
from F to H streets, Fourteenth tc
Fifteenth. The problem is to break
up the congestion and the only way is
to spread it out, he maintained. The
traffic expert, who comes from st
Louis. Mo-, pointed to what he termed
concentrations" citing the zones from
Seventh to Fifteenth streets and from
K to Pennsylvania avenue; the tri-
angle; the projected Northwest rect
angle for future Government build
ingS, from E street to Constitution
avenue and Eighteenth street to the
Potomac River, and the group south OF
the Mall, the Department of Agricul-
ture and the Bureau of Engraving and
lIlblllSt DO HCll no UIlC OCtldJC dIlO
House Office Buildings and Union Sta
tion.
I'VE cannot begin with the maxim
that we should cause as little dis
turbing in the present routing as pos
sible," said Bartholomew.
Business Section Uneven.
THE major question is, Are we re-
routing the transit lines to relieve
congestion and provide for future as
well as present needs or are we mere
ly reshuff1ing the lines without sub
stantially changing the present rout-
ing?'"
Mr.. Bartholomew. pointed out that
Washington has "a ragged shaped
business district" and that any re-
routing plan must comprehend the
whole area. The ideal business dis
trict, he explained, is a gridiron with
a distributor street on all four sides
The Loop district in Chicago is a
good example of city planning, as is
the plan in st. Louis, he said
Listing certain fundamental prin-
ciples which should be followed ir
any rerouting plan" Mr.. Bartholo-
NEW enumerated them as follows
Elimination of unnecessary duplica.
tion, direct routings, through routes
separation of street car and auto
mobile traffic on alternate thorough
fares, balanced design of the city
balanced design of business district
relief of rush-hour congestion points
and basic design for reduction Of
accident hazard.
CriticiZeS Indirect Routing.
There is no longer any justifica-
ton for four street car tracks in New
York avenue between Fourteenth and
Fifteenth streets or in Fourteenth
street between H street and New York
avenue" said the expert. Two Of
the four tracks should be removed in
each street"
AS an example of direct routings
Mr.. Bartholomew declared: Indirect
routings and frequent turns are major
defects in the present transit scheme
The Fourteenth Street-Decatur- Union
Station line. operating on Fourteenth
street, New York avenue, Fifteenth
street and Pennsylvania avenue, is ar
example Of unwarrantable indirect
routing causing much traffic compli.
cation. This should be simplified al
least TO the point of operating only
upon Fourteenth street and on Penn
sylvania avenue.
THE Georgia avenue line, which
now operates via Georgia avenue
Florida avenue and Ninth street
causes much traffic confusion in the
two-block offset traversed on Florida
avenue. This is, no doubt, one of the
principal causes for the unusually
large number of accidents found al
this location. The Georgia avenue
service should operate directly
through the city on Georgia avenue
and Seventh street"
Lists Principal Faults.
Mr.. Bartholomew said that 'the
principal deficiencies in transit opera
ton in Washington" are lack of uni
fed, comprehensive and co-ordinatec
plan: no continuous east and west
streets in the business district; un.
balanced traffic resulting in stub-eno
lines and loops; overconcentration o!
transit lines, particularly in the vicin.
ity of Fourteenth. Fifteenth, G streets
and New York avenue, and lack ol
differentiation between street cal
traffic and automobile traffic on GER
tain well-defined routes.
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