Evening star., 1954-10-06
Bill for Project
ToEase Station
Traffic Sought
Highway Officials
Wont to Widen
PIozo Approaches
ByJohn W. Stepp

The District Highway Depart
ment will move. as soon as Con-
gress reconvenes, for legislation
permitting street improvements
designed to ease the traffic
tangle on Union Station Plaza.
Special legislation is required,
since the property involved is
part Of the Capitol grounds.
At the same time. Highway
Director John N. Robertson said,
he will ask the District Com
missioners to seek similar per-
mission to widen Constitution
and Independence avenues as
part of the west approaches to
the East Capitol street bridge.
The span across the Anacostia
River is due to be completed in
about a year. If allowed, the
widening of the two avenues
would be timed to coincide with
the bridge opening.
Relief for Motorists.
The Union Station project,
long ng-demanded and long-de-
ferred, is related to no other
undertaking except that of
sparing the motorist at least
some of the pain and mental
anguish he has experienced in
years of getting caught in the
Plaza mixing bowl.
Mr.. Robertson unveiled de-
tailed plans for the plaza area
improvement at a meeting of the
District Advisory Board of
American Automobile Associa-
ton yesterday.
Actually. the traffic pattern
in the plaza itself would be
changed only slightly. The key
to the project is in widening to
six lanes such limited thorough
fares as North Capitol, and D
streets, where all skirt the
plaza, to encourage as much
traffic as possible to bypass the
plaza.
Traffic still would have the
choice OF going through the plaza
if it so desired. And, of course,
motorists bound for the station
would have as much access as
ever. But by making an appeal
ing bypass of Second, D and
North Capitol streets, highway
officials expect that a great deal
of the traffic load will disappear
from the plaza proper.
More Street Islands.
Aside from widening the three
key streets, and others in the
vicinity, the Highway Depart
ment intends to build more than
a dozen traffic Islands" in and
near the plaza. These will guide
traffic into the proper lanes.
Concrete dividing strips also are
to be built in the middle of Lou
isiana avenue, Second, D and
North Capitol streets.
Another important part of the
project is the removal of one OF
a set of two streetcar tracks
that swing around the south
west edge of the plaza. Track
removal, however, would have tc
hinge on negotiations with
Capital Transit Co. One of the
track sets now carries streetcal
traffic counter to automobile
traffic.
Mr.. Robertson estimated thai
the plaza job will cost $400, 900
He hopes it can be started the
latter part of next year.
In a progress report on som.
of the city's major highwa!
construction and plans, Mr.
Robertson said that a study o.
the proposed Anacostia freewa!
probably will be undertaken b!
a consultant firm in week or SO
The consultants will recommend
a tentative route and provid,
cost estimates. The freeway
which will roughly parallel th'
Anacostia and Potomac Rivers
from East Capitol Street Bridg'
to the District line in Southeas
Washington, will be the city,
main connection TO the proposed
Potomac span at Jones Point.
Problem Seen.
Observing that both Fedora
and District highway planners
are now intenSively studying ap'
proaches to the proposed Twenty
Fourth street bridge across tn
Potomac just south of Theodore
Roosevelt Island, Mr.. Robertson
declared that he doesn't "se'
anything wrong with this bridg'
except Constitution avenue.
The span would touch dowl
in line with that thoroughfare
which then would have to b
widened tremendously to handl
the increased traffic that woult
swell the already heavy volume