Evening star., 1938-06-26
BY JOSEPH s. EDGERTON.

Wants Highways Now.
The type Of painstaking, detailed
planning now being carried out for
the East Washington area and for
parkway connections to Baltimore. the
east and the south. utilizing the Ana
costa Parkway as a bypass route,
should be extended to the remainder
OF the District and its environs, Mr..
Hazen said.
Although the Commissioner feels
that the details of any future develop
ment OF Washington should be based
on thorough study of the needs of the
entire area. he is convinced that, re-
gardless of whatever other develop
ment may be undertaken. a major
trafhc development of the Rock Creek
and Anacostia Valleys should be car
ried forward as rapidly as possible,
not only for the benefit OF local traffic
but also to expedite through trafic.
There should be double one-way
highways up Rock Creek from K street
at least to the East West highway"
Mr.. HaEen said. 1--WE should have
roadways on both sides of the creek
and should eliminate every grade
crossing down the length of the valley.
Present Road Inadequate.
Rock Greek Valley presents a
splendid opportunity for a solution Of
part of our north-south traffic prob
lem. But 1t calls for A great deal of
development. The present roadway
is doubled through a part of its length
but its use is limited by bottleneck
stretches Of narrow. single roadway.
Even when it is limited to one-way
traffic. this roadway can't handle the
present traffic"
TWO uniform flow, one-way road
ways on opposite banks of Rock Greek
would increase tremendously the
amount of traffic which could be
handled and would prevent the neces-
sity of restricting the Rock Greek and
Potomac Parkway to one-way traffic
twice a day. Further improved by the
elimination of grade crossings, Rock
Greek Valley would in time become a
wonderful through traffic route from
the north to the south of the District,
serving both local and through traffic
at all hours in both directions, Mr.,
Hazen believes.
'The topography of the valley is
ideal for this sort of development, "
Mr.. Hazen said. Conditions are per-
feet for the elimination of grade cross
ings without destroying the scenic
beauty Of the valley or its use for park
as well as highway purposes"
Ideal Bypass Route.
Opportunities in the Anacostia
River Valley are equally good fora by
pass development to the east of WASH
ington, in the opinion of the head of
the District government
IF you will look at the map" he
said. pointing out on a large wall map
in his office at the District Building
you will see that the Anacostia valley
is in the natural line of traffic flow
from New York, Philadelphia and Bal
timore and is the ideal route for by
passing through traffic from these
points to Potomac River crossing
below Washington"
Commissioner HaZen believes that
the Potomac could be bridged to ad-
vantage from Shepherds Landing to
the northern end of Alexandria. A
bridge at this point. he said, would
not be longer than the present High
way Bridge and would have the added
advantage of more easy, favorable ap-
proaches, without any bottlenecks OF
the type found at the Tidal Basin
Bridge at Fourteenth street.
This would seem to me to be the
most practical immediate solution OF
the bypass problem" Mr.. Hazen
said. Development of this route, In
conjunction with the plan of the
National Capital Park and Planning
Commission and the State Of Mary
land for parkway to Baltimore,
should greatly improve local traffic
conditions. It would serve the double
function Of a new, beautiful approach
to Washington from the North and
Northeast and of an easy, natural by
pass for heavy through traffic which
now must pass through the city,
adding to the already heavy local
traffic congestion"
Asks Scattered Buildings.
Mr.. Hazen also voiced approval OF
suggested scattering Of new Federal
buildings as widely as possible through
the city as a means OF preventing
further localized traffic congestion.
The National Capital Park and Plan
ming Commission has proposed the use
of East Capitol street sites for future
public and semi-public buildings. This
is in line with the original plans Of
Mai, Pierre Charles L'Enfant for the
development of Washington from
nuclei formed by the squares and
circles. Under the L'Enfant plan,
public buildings would have been
located around the squares and circles,
which are the meeting points for the
avenue systems, and the city would
have grown around these centers. re-
sulting in a balanced growth Of the
whole metropolitan area.
Mr.. Hazen, however, believes that de-
velopment should be spread even
farther than any Of the plans 80 far
proposed. He feels that the high ridge,
which forms Washington's eastern and
southeastern skyline and which forms
the route of Alabama avenue provides
a worthwhile area for both public and
semi-public use and for residential
purposes.
"This ridge along Alabama avenue
is one of the most beautiful IN the
District of Columbia, Mr.. Hazen ex-
planned. Il am surprised that 1t has
not been more extensively developed IN
the past. It certainly should be IN
cluded in any future plans for wash
lngton. especially that section nortn-
east Of the intersection Of PennsylvanA