Evening star., 1939-06-18
Shenandoah
And Smokes
Connected
RecreatiOnal Areas
Will Be Erected
Along Route
By Joseph s. Edgert0n.


Carved out of the rocky wall OF
Americas oldest mountain chain,
nearly 200 miles of a skyline motor
parkway which is expected to prove
the key to new type of national
highway development, has been
opened for summer motor traffic
along the crest of the Blue Ridge
Mountains.
BY midsummer approximately 40
miles more will have been completed
and opened to motorists and many
additional miles will be under con-
tract in various stages of construc-
ton. Depending upon the amount
finally appropriated by Congress for
- the coming fiscal year, great ma
joritv of the 480-mile mountain-top
parkway connecting Shenandoah
National Park and the Great Smoky
Mountain National Park of North
Carolina Tennessee is expected to
be completed or under contract be-
fore the end of another year.
The combined motor parkway in
the Shenandoah National Park and
the Blue Ridge Parkway, opening
hundreds of acres of magnificent
mountain country to 1899 tourists, is
regarded as one of the worlds finest
developments of the kind.
Three States now are at work
acquiring a right-of way for the
Natchez Trace, a wonderful motor
parkway similar in concept to the
Blue Ridge Parkway, following the
route of the famous Indian pioneer
trail, or trace" from Nashville
Tenn, to Natchez. Miss. Funds are
available for construction work
there as soon as the necessary land
has been transferred to the National
Park Service. Much work has been
done on the Trace and one section
now is nearing completion under a
current contract. Funds are avail
able for two years of work.
Georgia Trail.
Government surveyors and engi-
neers also are completing the lay
ing out of the proposed Oglethorpe
Trail, another great motor parkway
between Savannah and Augusta, Ga
President Roosevelt is an ardent
advocate of the new type of natural
scenic parkway now being con-
structed along the crest of the Blue
Ridge and through Tennessee, Ala
bama and Mississippi. He has given
expression to the hope that the Blue
Ridge mountain-top parkway even
tually may be extended northward
through Northern Virginia. Mary
land and Pennsylvania into New
York, New England and the eastern
Canadian provinces.
In Shenandoah National Park r87
miles of the Skyline Drive have been
completed and now are open to
traffic. The final section, at the
southern end of the park, has been
graded and is being paved This
unit will be opened to traffic without
restriction about July Is. 1t has
been temporarily open to motorists
on a proceed at your own risk"
basis.
The emile section of the Blue
Ridge Parkway between the south
ern end of Shenandoah Park at
Jarman's Gap, and Virginia High
way $50 at Rockfish Gap. has been
completed and is open to traffic.
Completion of the final unit in the
park, therefore, will mean the COM
pletion of 105 miles of unbroken
mountain-top highway from Front
Royal Va, to Rocktish Gap, for the
late summer motor travel.
Tourists Interested
In the Blue Ridge Parkway 10
miles of the same type of motor
road have been completed along the
crest of the Blue Ridge, and 80
miles more will be completed by the
end of the fiscal year, June 30. The
completed portions of the parkway
have already become a mecca for
tourists drawn by magnificent spring
displays of azalea and laurel bloom
and rhododendrons.
The completed portions of the
Blue Ridge Parkway are in two ma
jor sections.
The first, of Al miles, extends from
Adney Gap, about II miles south
OF Roanoke, Va, to the Pinnacles of
Dan, near Laurel Fork. This entire
section is hard-surfaced and open
to traffic. The second section, of
So miles, is in North Carolina, ex-
tending from the Virginia State line
to Deep Gap. More than half is
hard surfaced and surfacing of the
remainder will be completed by July.
1t has been opened to traffic On a
proceed at your own risk" basis.
Contracts for six additional Sec
tions Of the Blue Ridge Parkway in
Virginia are to be awarded before
the end of the current fiscal year,
bids for two Of them having already
been opened. Bids have been opened
for emile section from Humpback
Gap and Love Post Office. and for
a 12-mile section from Love Post
Office to Tye River Gap. This 2l-
mile portion of the parkway extends
from a point about miles south of
Rockfish Gap to the Tye River Gap
and the mountain known locally as
"The Priest" almost on line be-
tween Lynchburg and Greenville.
Rockfish Gap.
One of the three remaining con-
tracts to be awarded before June
80 will cover the miles between
Rockf1sh Gap and Humpback Gap.