Evening star., 1948-06-13
By WiIIiom A. MiHen

Bad weather ana SLOW deliveries
of materials have combined to delay
of the X street motor
"skyway" in Georgetown. '"'-h& ~
District Director OF Highways
H. C. Whitehurst said yesterday II
NAV be March before it is completed.
Previous estimates had fixed the
date in January. .- "a ,s.I
The project is now one-third fin
ished, Capt. Whitehurst said. II
soon will be necessary to cut OIL
Rock Creek valley traffic at K street
to permit building of new arches,
the director said. Plans call for
detour along Twenty-seventh street,
using the existing ramp, to Virginia
avenue or K street.
Stone facing must be set before
concrete for the new arches over
the valley can be poured. Capt.
Whitehurst said. A Salisbury, N. c.,
quarry. after some delay, now ex-
poets to ship the stone next Friday
This stone will match that on the
existing arch over Rock Creek at K
street and surrounding stone work.
Piling for the concrete footings for
the steel superstructure also has
been slow in arriving.
Bids To Be Asked.
Meanwhile Capt. Whitehurst
hopes to call for bids next month
for widening Canal road, from the
end of Key Bridge to Foxhall road.
Condemnation proceedings to get
the necessary additional land are
now pending in District Court, he
said The project will be a four
lane highway ,0with concrete strip
separating the two directions. The
program calls for a 90-foot right OF
way, running beside the old Chesa-
peake e. Ohio Canal into which
water will be restored about July
| /.
The new Canal road eventually
will tie in with the Arizona avenue
parkway, Capt. Whitehurst said.
The Capital Transit Co. recently
tore down the old Falls car storage
barn, between Macarthur Boulevard
and Thirty-sixth street NV, near
which a retaining wall will be built
for the new highway project there.
Carl A. Wilson, resident engineer
bridge division of the District Gov
ernment, who is directly responsible
70 Capt. Whitehurst for the K street
project, explained recent rains have
held up progress. Last winters
severe weather likewise.retarded the
Job, he said.
Cars Bring in Steel.
The Bethlehem Steel Co. is erect
| ing the steel, brought on railroad
cars to a siding near the job from
Pottstown. Pa. A special railroad
steel erection car is aiding in the
work. Steel for the "skyway" has
now been erected from near the foot
of Thirty fourth street to near WIS
consin avenue NV.
The entire "skyway' project, cost
ing s3,338,829, runs from Twenty
seventh to Thirty-sixth streets NV
along K street. It is designed tc
speed traffic between downtown
/ washington and Maryland and Vir-
ginia.
Capt. Whitehurst observed that 4
street is destined to be one OF the
city's major thoroughfares. There
will be an underpass at washington
Circle in the line of K street. The
director said plans for this have
been completed and contract draw.
ines made. but his office Is not yel
ready to call for bids. These VII
/ call for Improvements between
Twenty-seventh and Twenty-f1rs'
streets NV.
| Another phase of improvements al
| Kew Bridge is the restoration OF the
Francis Scott Key home and law
Office. H. P. Caemmerer, executive
secretary of the Fine Arts Commits
sion and past president OF the co.
lumbia Historical Society. pointed
out a Senate-passed bill is now
pending on the House calendar. to
authorize $65. 200 for this project
! He explained this was favoraniy re-