Smyrna times., 1955-07-21
JOHN d. CARSON
ROTARY GUEST
Highway Engineer Tells of
Proposed Plans for Resur-
facing Commerce Street
CITE RECENT PROJECTS

The Smyrna Rotary Club heard
a talk by John d. Carson, con-
struction engineer, State Highway
Department, on a program ar
ranged by Rex d. Gilmore, town
manager at the dinner meeting
Thursday night. Howard Pletsch
presided. Mr.. Carson's talk bore
specifically on proposed plans for
resurfacing Commerce Street and
of the agreement necessary be-
tween the town and the state. Re-
ferring to the concern felt by res
idents of the street over loss of
their trees, he said that there is
too much fear and doubt at this
time, as the department does not
know at present what will be
done. There is no reason why
the width of the street cannot
vary between 80 and 40 feet, he
stated. He gave figures showing
average daily count on various
routes, with expected reduction on
Route 800 after completion of the
new road from Bay Bridge to
Warwick, Md. However, traffic
drop is not expected on Commerce
Street, he said. The cost of re-
surfacing Commerce Street would
be S275,000. He stressed the i'm
portance of the people working
with the town council and high
way department to get together
on the proposition. Referring to
what he thinks the design would
be, he said that the surface would
probably be seven-inch concrete
with a two-inch hot-mix surface
over it, which is recommended for
towns as smoother and with less
noise. He described the type OF
agreement to be made, and the
responsibility of the town and the
state. The highway department
would assume full cost for remov-
al of trees where necessary, re-
imburse the town for work of
changing utilities under the street,
pay for sidewalks where changed
or damaged, and maintain perpet-
ual care of the street from curb
to curb. The town would assume
responsibility for right of way,
and the construction and main
tenance of sewers would be set up
in the document, also permission
to remove trees where necessary.
Recent Projects Here
The speaker referred also to the
various projects conducted in and
near Smyrna in the comparatively
recent past, the outstanding of
which were the first highway in
1918; dual highway, 1884; side
walk to Smyrna Landing, 1886;
Market Street, 1888; new bridge at
Lake Como after the washout in
1910; Glenwood Avenue, 1852;
streets around the elementary
school, 1858; rebuilding of road
east of DUPONT Parkway on Com
merce Street, 1854. In April 1851
the highway department was re-
quested to re-pave Commerce
Street but there was no money at
that time and the request was
tabled. He outlined the program
for the coming bi-ennium and the
preparation of budget alloting
funds for primary, secondary, urb-
an, and interstate roads, with the
state paying 40 per cent and the
Bureau of Public Roads so per
cent. There is a standard form
ula for the amount to be spent in
each county, he stated, with Com
merce Street designated second
ary highway, with federal aid.
The response was made by DIR. G.
j. Prickett. Birthday greetings
were extended to Edward Wilson.
Councilman Lester l.. Liefer was
the guest of Hal Wickham, and
Mr.. Carson guest of Mr.. Gilmore.
Warren Buckingham and William
]. Tomlinson were visiting Rotar-
ians from Middletown. Reynolds
Pratt directed the singing.