Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-09-03
BaIfimore-to-D. {. :
Expressway TO Open
In About Six Weeks

BY the Associated Press
BALTIMORE, Sept. Sunless
the weather turns nasty or other
unforeseen problems develop. the
new Baltimore Washington Ex-
pressway will be open all the
way from Baltimore into the
District of Columbia in about
six weeks.
Involved is the completion of
q little over Is miles of parkway
from near Laurel into northeast
Washington, plus half a dozen
traffic interchanges at inter-
secting roads.
Engineers of the u. s. Bureau
of Public Roads said today no
date has been set for opening the
new strip to traffic. They said
they are thinking in terms of
about October Is.
Part Already Open.
The parkway has been open
since last fall from Baltimore to
the Laurel-Bowie road, a few
miles southeast of Laurel.
Traffic has been using the
completed section by way of a
connecting road which links it
with U S. at Laurel.
The parkway roughly paral-
lels U. S. between Baltimore
and Washington.
The old road is a four-lane,
undivided highway almost solid
with filling stations, taverns in
formation booths, souvenir
shops. and motor courts. It is
one of the busiest and deadliest
stretches of highway anywhere
In the United States.
THE parkway is two lanes in
each direction, divided by a belt
of grass and trees more than
100 feet wide at most points.
There are no cross roads or
stoplights on it between the two
cities.
20 Miles u. s. Project.
Maryland built the section
from Baltimore south to the
edge of Fort Meade. The re-
manning 20 miles is a Federal
project.
When the final Federal
stretches are opened, the park
way will be by no means COM 1
plete; but most of its mileage
will be ready and what remains
to be done involves only con-
nections with new expreeswsys
inside Washington.
Temporarily. the parkway will
end in Washington at an inter-
change the District of Columbia
is building at the intersection
of New York and South Dakota
avenues, a little more than a
mile inside the District line.
Temporarily. motorists will
have to take South Dakota and
Bladensburg road around two
sides of triangle and back to
New York avenue, main chan
mel into downtown Washington.
BY the end of the year. the
District is expected to have New
York avenue cut through so
parkway traffic can use It,.
straight across the base Of the
triangle. ..
Interchange Unfinished.
Still under construction. but
unneeded yet. is the elaborate
Kenilworth interchange on the
northeast corner of Washington.
1t ultimately will be the inter-
section with the new expressway
Maryland is building between
Annapolis and Washington. 1t
also will be the dividing point
where southbound traffic from
both roads can skirt the SOUTH
east edge of downtown Washing
ton and cross the Potomac into
Virginia.
Completion Of the parkway
will be a big benefit for the
heavy traffic between Baltimore
and College Park. particularly if
it is ready for Maryland's first
home football game with North
Carolina on October Is.
Traffic to and from College
Park will use the Greenbelt road
for a connection between the
parkway and U. S. The Green
belt road intersects with U. S. l
less than a mile north of the