Evening star., 1936-02-09
HIGHWAY PLANS
TO OBE SUBMITTED
BY WH|TEHURST
House Committee to Get De.
tails for Relief of Traf-
fic Congestion.
ELEVATED ROUTE
AMONG PROPOSALS
Electrical Engineer Kern to Be
Questioned on Effect of Cur.
tailed Street Lighting.
BY JAMES z. CHINN.

BY JAMES z. CHINN.
A comprehensive plan for relieving
traffic congestion through widening
streets, ,redesigning circles. and con-
struction of an elevated highway. will
be placed before the Special Traffic
Subcommittee of the House District
Committee this week by Capt. Her.
bert C. Whitehurst, director of high
ways.
Capt. Whitehurst has been called
as the first witness before the sub
committee when 1t resumes its trafic
study Tuesday at 10 am. He will
be followed by Walter E. Kern, elec-
trical engineer of the District, who
will be questioned about the effect on
traffic accidents of the curtailed street
lighting program.
Representative Carpenter. Demo-
crat, of Kansas, who is directing the
subcommittee traffic survey, said he
wanted Capt. Whitehurst to give a de-
tailed explanation of the various pro-
posals Of the highway department for
expediting the movement of traffic by
the elimination of so-called bottle
necks."
Ideas for improvement.
Capt. Whitehurst is understood to
have a number Of ideas designed to
improve the traffic situation, some Of
which Traffic Director William A. Van
Duzer mentioned casually during his
testimony before the subcommittee
several days ago. The complete de-
tails, however, have not been revealed.
Van Duzer suggested highway on
the bed of the old Chesapeake and
Ohio Canal from Twenty-ninth street
to Key Bridge to bypass Virginia
traffic through Georgetown.
Capt. Whitehurst admitted such a
plan is feasible, but pointed out he has
studied what he believes to be q far
better scheme-constructio of an ele.
waited highway over K street from
Twenty-ninth street to Key Bridge.
Several street-widening projects also
are going to be suggested by the high
way director. The principal one calls
for widening of K street from Thir-
teenth street to Connecticut avenue
and the development of a unique thor
| oughfare which would have a center
roadway for fast-moving through traf.
fic, f1anked by two 2o-foot service
roadwayS" for Slow-moving vehicles
and also for parking purposes. The
main roadway and the service road.
ways" would be separated by l0-foot
tree-lined island.
Trees to Be Preserved.
Capt. Whitehurst pointed out this
novel street-widening plan could be
carried out without destruction of the
shade trees along K street. He be.
lieves it would provide adequate facili-
ties for the heavy volume of traffic
that now uses the thoroughfare.
Eventually, he said, the same plan of
widening should be extended as far as
Washington Circle.
One of the so-called "bottlenecks"
Capt. Whitehurst would like to elimi.
nate as soon as possible is the narrow
stretch of Seventeenth street between
Pennsylvania avenue and H street.
This block, he explained. will become
q OCA1Ouo HOll4b VI VI d111N OOA6COI4O4A
under the street car rerouting plan,
because all Potomac Park cars will
use Seventeenth street as far as Penn
sylvania avenue.
Other widening projects to be rec
commended by Capt Whitehurst follow:
Eleventh street from MaSSa chusetts
avenue to Florida avenue.
Twelfth street from New York to
Massachusetts, avenues.
Sixth street from D street to Florida
avenue.
Eleventh and Twelfth streets already
have been widened for a short dis
tance-Eleventh street from Pennsyl-
vania avenue to Massachusetts, avenue,
and Twelfth street from Pennsylvania
to New York avenues.
Cost Held too Great.
Capt. Whitehurst is confident 1t will
be impossible because of the cost, to
widen Sixth street the entire distance
from D street to Florida avenue in
one step, but he does believe the thor
oughfare should be widened at this
time from D street to New York ave-
nue..
Capt. Whitehurst explained the pro-
posals he will make with regard to
widening of the streets will have a
two-fold purpose-to relieve conges-
ton on traffic arteries which already
have reached the saturation point. and
to relieve conditions on adjacent
streets which feed the main routes.
Chairman Carpenter said he had
not reached any definite conclusions
as a result of the first week of the
traffic study, except perhaps. that au-
tomobile drivers do not know the
regulation speed limit in various Sec
tions. He believes more speed signs
should be erected.
Carpenter emphasized, however, he
did not believe the speed limit is ex-
ceeded in the congested section. The
volume of traffic in that area, he said,
prevents speeding.