The Washington times., 1934-10-20
:: ST. WIDENING
PROGRAM IS
DETAILED
Roadway to Be 80 Feet Be-
tween Curbs When Completed,
SAYS Commission Secretary
By EUGENE A. KELLY

Details of the program to be
launched for the widening OF r
Street between Seventh and Ninth
SITS. N. W., were explained today
bv T. S.. Settle, secretary OF the
National Capital Park and Pan
ming Commission.
The congested area, now 81 feet
in width from curb to curb, Will
be widened by % feet, making a
total of 80 feet for the new road
way. Design for the project was
drawn up by William T. Part
ridge, consultant architect for
the National Capital Park and
Planning Commission.
The street car route will re-
main the same. Corners OF the
two-block stretch will be partially
cut off so as to bring them into
an approximate alignment with
the corners at the opposite sides
of Seventh and Ninth Streets.
The sidewalks running along the
north side of the street will be
cut back until they reach a width
of II feet.
Made Traffic Artery
With the removal of the steps
leading to the F Street entrance
to the Old Patent Office Building
and the unsightly street car plat
form on F Street near Seventh
Street, the entire area will be
transformed into a beautiful east
west traffic artery, Mr.. Settle
stated. Removal of the steps will
add to rather than detract from
the architectural beauty OF the
Old Patent Office Building, in the
opinion of Mr.. Settle. ,
Specifications for the project
are already being drawn up, it was
announced today at the office Of
the National Park Service, which
Government agency will be in
charge Of the construction work.
The plans for the work are ur1-
der the supervision of John l.
Magic, assistant chief engineer Of
the bureau. It was mainly through
the efforts of Arno B. Cammerer,
Director of National Park Service,
that attention was brought to the
need of immediate elimination OF
the F Street congestion.
Funds Are Allotted
Funds for the project, the Fed
eral Governments expenses for
which will be 100000, were al
lotted Wednesday. Announcement
of the grant was the elimination
of a spirited campaign waged by
The Washington Times for the
long-sought improvement.
The District Government stands
ready to proceed with its share
of the improvement program.
These expenditures will amount
to about $4,000 and will be ap-
piled to the actual widening of
the street.
The project will give about 100
men three months work, Mr.. Maggie
estimated today. Most of the
work calls for the services Of
skilled labor, such as stone cut
tiers, granite settlers, carpenters
and plasterers, according to Maggie.
Work can be started on the
project about December 1, accord.
ing to calculations of Government
officials.
Advertise for Bids
About two weeks will be re-
quired before the funds are actu-
ally transferred from the PWA
to the National Park Service. The
next step, after the transfer, will
be the advertising for bids, for
which about three weeks will be
allowed. Shortly after their re-
ceipt, the bids will be opened and
an award will be made.
Aside from the practical conse-
quence of the improvement which
will be two.way traffic lanes for
automobiles, the widening of F
Street will result in the enhance
ment of the beauty of the down
town section as well as creating
a free flow of traffic for thou
sands of shoppers who daily make
use of the street.
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