Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1935-08-23
RESIDENTS UNITE
IN HIGHWAY FIGHT
Defense Highway Demands
PuShed-BaItimore.An.
napoIis Work Cited.

Demands for widening OF the De-
tense Highway to eliminate reverse
curves, dangerous grades, overcrowd-
ing and all the other ingredients of
its many death traps" grew in vol
ume today as Marylanders living along
the road awakened to the fact that
the Baltimore-Annapolis road is being
made a four-way boulevard.
Believing the State Roads Commits
sion Disseminated against them in
building the Baltimore highway first,
local residents united to insist that
the notorious death highway" be-
tween Washington and Annapolis be
widened at once.
Inquest Postponed.
For years motorists have been killed
and manned on dead mans curves"
and other treacherous spots along the
road. The fatalities climaxed in the
deaths of three nuns and two of their
relatives in a bus-auto collision near
Bowie Tuesday The tragedy will be
officially investigated at an inquest
before Justice of the Peace Louis
Gundling at Lanham August 80. Orig
inally scheduled for tonight, it was
postponed by States Attorney Alan
Bowie because of illness in his family.
It was reported in Prince Georges
County that the State Roads Com
mission may be spurred into action
to eliminate the hazards which were
- 81 mi al1 rnSrNnfaeiala for tho
collision, because Of fear Of a suit for
damages. County attorneys point out
that, although the State itself can
not be sued. the Legislature has
granted individuals the right to sue
the State Roads Commission.
PIT. A. Aroused.
Louis A. Day, leader of the County
Parent Teacher Association. which re-
Gently obtained an appropriation from
the county commissioners to operate
school bus from Lanham to Bladens-
burg, said the parents would not want
the bus line started unless permanent
improvements are made to the high
way.
II cannot see why the State should
widen the road from Baltimore to
Annapolis as long as our children
have to travel death highway in its
present condition" he said.
1--WE believe the State should not
hesitate to spend a million dollars, or
whatever it costs, rather than risk the
life of a single school child, and We
intend to carry our demands to the
Governor and Congress If necessary.
THE road is so narrow a school
bus could not pass truck or other
wide vehicle without dropping OF to
the dangerous earth shoulders"
The urgency of widening the De-
tense Highway Is canceded IN the 1884
report of the State Roads Commission
and listed as one Of the highways 1t
hopes TO widen with Federal funds.
Over 5000 Cars Daily.
"Any highway carrying an average
daily traffic in excess of 1000 vehicles
should be more than two lanes" the
report says. 1t further sets forth that
the average traffic between Bladens-
burg and Lanham on the Defense
Highway Is 5,813 cars, and between
Annapolis and Camp Parole, $3.50
cars.
Surveys by the Keystone Automobile
Club show that when the tide Of mo-
florists returning from Maryland
beaches reaches its height, IS minutes
is required to travel 3 miles at the
Peace Cross bottleneck. This. the
clubs engineer, william S. Canning.
contends, conclusively demonstrates
the road is not adequate for the de-
mands Of present-day traffic.
State Roads Commission officials
hold the road has capacity of 10000 |
cars q day, this being the average |
figure for two-lane highways, roads
being considered filled to capacity |
when machines two car lengths apart |
are travelling along them at IS miles |
an hour. When allowance is made |
for curves, grades and other traffic |
the capacity Of the Defense
Highway would be considerably less, it
was said at the office Of the American |
Road Builders Association.
Not Peak Count.
The traffic count of 5,813 cars be-
tween Bladensburg and Lanham, made
by the State Roads Commission, did
not include peak traffic. In order to
get q normal count State roads tabu-
lators always avoid unusual condi-
tions such as exist on the Defense
Highway on Sundays and holidays.
Elimination of some of the Sunday
congestion around the Bladensburg
Peace Cross, q project second in i'm
portance to the widening Of the De-
tense Highway in the minds Of those
who travel that road, is being studied
by the Roads Commission in conjunc-
ton with the proposed widening, &C
cording to DR.. H. e. Tabler, chairman.
He said efforts are being made to
obtain release of some s350,000 Fed
eral funds allocated last year, but un-
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