Evening star., 1940-10-06
Accord Reached
On Construction
Of D. +. Roads
Agreement Calls for
a Landscape Jobs
By Parks Office

landscape four District projects in
return for road construction work
BY the District Highway Depart
ment, it was learned yesterday.
The deal may lead to standing
agreement between the parks office
and the District whereby major
park roads, which form part of
the city's arterial highway system,
will be financed from gasoline taxes.
At present these roadways are not
so financed although agreements in
volving specific roadways have been
made in the past.
Work already has started. under
the agreement. to reconstruct Madi-
son drive NV. between Twelfth
and Fourteenth streets. The drive
was closed early last spring due to
damages and had been expected to
remain closed indefinitely for lack
of funds.
The drive is being reconstructed
for heavy duty with an 8-inch con-
crete base so that bus traffic. when
it resumes use of the road, will not
upset subsurface conditions.
Vital Link in System.
The Mall drives - Washington,
Adams, Jefferson and Madison
were constructed by the District in
1882 for light traffic only. How
ever, the Public Utilities Commits
sion permitted buses to use the above
section of Madison drive with un-
healthy results. Many persons had
become alarmed over the continued
closing of the drive. as it had be-
come vital link in the city's high
way system.
The park office this year has only
s50,000 of National Park Service
roads and trails funds Gts only
source of roads money. This was
earmarked for the reconstruction of
Rock Creek and Potomac parkway
where it underpasses the new Mas
sachusetts Avenue Bridge over Rock
Creek, thus leaving no funds with
which to reconstruct Madison drive,
technically park roadway, al
though definite part of the city
street system.
Therefore park officials approach
ed the District on the subject offer
ing to apply the $4,000 to landscape
and put finishing touches to the
following District projects: Barney
Circle, at the west end of the new
Sousa Memorial Bridge, which car
Hes Pennsylvania avenue traffic over
the Anacostia River; the east ap-
proaches to the Sousa Bridge, the
new Massachusetts, avenue bridge
and the K street overpass at Rock
Creek and Potomac parkway.
In return the park officials asked
that Capt. H. c. Whitehurst, Dis
trict director of highways, construct
the new roadway for the Rock Creek
and Potomac parkway under Massa-
chusetts avenue. reconstruct Madi-
son drive between Twelfth and Four
teenth streets NV. and construct
the first section of a clover leaf"
which is to connect Anacostia park
way with Pennsylvania avenue Sc.
at the east approach to Sousa
Bridge.
Funds for Materials.
The road construction will be
financed out of District gasoline tax
funds and the landscaping and fin
lshlng will be accomplished bv ap-
plying the $4,000 of roads and trails
funds to buy materials with which
c. c. c. enrollees can work.
In short, the parks and District
are to swap approximately 100000
worth of work each.
In many quarters the agreement is
believed to be a forerunner of an
even more comprehensive deal
whereby gasoline tax funds, an i'm
portant part of which are raised
from cars utilizing park roads and
parkWays, will be used for all road
way construction and maintenance
on all park roadWays as we'll as
city streets. the park office re-
tanning responsibility for secondary
roadWays of a purely park nature.
Rock Creek and Potomac park
way and Anacostia parkway and
the projected Fort drive would be
three major thoroughfares on park
land affected by such a deal.
Roads and trails funds, park Off
Gals hold, are inadequate for the
construction and maintenance of
the super-parkways with which
Washington is becoming equipped.