Evening star., 1953-10-25
By George Beveridoe

curves and traffic tie-ups. And
you dread the prospect of the
tortuous crawl through Balti-
more's congested streets.
That's the way it has been for
years and that's the way it is
today. Later this week, there
will be a drastic improvement.
You'll still have to stick with
Rt. 1-"Old Bloody"-as far as
Laurel. But there, you bear right
on the black topped Laurel-Fort
Meade road, spin 2 miles east
to the Baltimore Washington
parkway and take off in direct,
nonstop line to within a few
blocks of the center of Baltimore.
Two separate developments
will bring this about.
On Wednesday, the National
Capital Parks Office will open
the first 3.8-mile Federally-con-
structed stretch of the parkway,
from JesSup road (Route 175)
south to the Laurel-Fort Meade
road.
On Friday, Baltimore will
make it practicable to use the
parkway.
Open to d. C. Next Fall.
i BY next fall, the inter-city
roadway will be open all the
way to Washington, tying in
with an extension of New York
avenue beyond BladenSburg
road.
The southern two-thirds of
the road, 19 miles between New
York avenue and Jessup road
is being built by the Federal
Bureau of Public Roads. The
10-mile stretch from Jessup road
north to Baltimore already has
been built by the Maryland
Roads Commission.
Except for signs, you hardly
know when you leave the Fed
eral and enter the State portion,
Both have dual, two-lane con-
crete surfacing, divided by grassy
eXpanses of varying width. There
are no traffic signals; on grade
intersections-the only access is
by interchanges feeding cars
smoothly into the proper lanes.
The concrete ribbons follow ma
tural contour of the land. Fed
eral and State officials think it
is the most beautiful road stretch
between Washington and Balti-
more.
Two Differences.
There are two differences be-
tween the sections, however. Both
are likely to stick.
Signs designate the Federal
section as the Baltimore Wash
tngton parkway" They describe
the State portion as the Balti-
re-Washington "expressway."
The roadway bears no Federal or
State route numbers.
Trucks will be banned from
the Federal section. But they
. can use the State portion, which
by law can't be restricted. Thus.
trucks may choose to swing onto
the 'expressway" in Baltimore.
II they do, they'll have to swing
right back off where the park
way" picks up at Jessup.
The States 10-mile section
was opened to traffic in August
But if you drove it last week.
the chances are you didn't meet
a dozen cars all the way to Balti-
more. The reason is it didn't 90
anywhere.
Route in Baltimore.
Here's the way you can drive
1t from Washington next week
end:
The parkway Cor expreSsWay)
ends as divided, limited access
route at a traffic light just be-
yond Watervied avenue, we'll
within Baltimore's limits.
From there, it continues as
Russell street, paved street,
controlled by traffic lights and
intersected by cross streets and
a few alleys. After few blocks,
new 1,300-foot viaduct carries
traffic over the main line of the
Baltimore & Ohio Railroad.
North of the viaduct, Russell
street continues as a six-lane,
paved street newly cut through
one of the city's worst slums.
About five blocks north of the
viaduct, Russell feeds into two
parellel north-south streets,
Greene and Paca.
One-Way Arteries.
Both have been resurfaced, and
converted into six-lane one-way
streets.
Paca will carry north-bound
traffic. Through-city motorists
will turn right on Mulberry
street, which leads into Orleans
street. Orleans, in turn, feeds
into Route l to the north and
directly into the Pulaski high
way (Route 40) to the west.
South-bound traffic, con-
versely, will move westward
from Orleans to Franklin street,
turn left into Greene and move
southwark to Russell street and
the eXpresSway.
Up to now, the most common
entrance from Washington has
been to swing left from Route
at Southwestern boulevard out
side Baltimore, swing right into
Wilkins avenue and left on Full
ton avenue to Mulberry street.
Planning Full Bypass.
While the new city improve
ments mark a drastic saving in
time and driving strain, they still
aren't the answer for through
traffic. The street network fed
by Russell street is in the very
heart of Baltimore's congested
business area.
PIlt I1IaOOino olrnodv iS under