Evening star. [volume], October 23, 1949, Page A-7, Image 7

About Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972

Image provided by: Library of Congress, Washington, DC

                
INS AND OUTS OE THE UNDERPASS—Street cars soon will
be running through this east tube of the Dupont Circle
underpass. This is looking north below Connecticut avenue
from Nineteenth street N.W.
One of nine exits is this one leading to Massachusetts
avenue. Citizens’ groups have been urging escalators to
handle the heavy flow of passengers, but for the present
they’ll walk up 18 feet.
Here’s the entrance and exit point of the stairs to the left. !
It’s on the northwest comer of Massachusetts avenue N.W. The
entire underpass will not be ready for &t least five months.
—Star Staff Photos.
Underpass Still Has Critics, Boosters
Dupont Circle underpass—bug
aboo to some, a long stride for
ward to others — how are the
critics assessing it now, five
months before its scheduled com
pletion?
Burrowing beneath a circular
island surrounded by traffic from
ten confluent arteries, the under
pass has been big talk along a
half-mile expanse of Connecticut
avenue since long before con
struction began in March, 1948.
Within a couple of weeks cars
will nose through one of the long
tubes, bringing a harbinger of
hope for those vitally affected by
the giant project.
But even before the tunnels are
opened to vehicular traffic it is
now possible to evaluate some of
the apprehensions and expecta
tions of those who fought for and
against the underpass construc
tion.
Some Businesses Off 80%
Fears of business losses, of
building damage and the dissipa
tion of Dupont Circle’s beauty —
have they been borne out by the
facts?
A survey of ^Bhops and business
houses in the Connecticut avenue
construction area between N and
S streets elicited complaints of
business drop-offs up to 80 per
cent, and even of complete
failures.
Leaders of business and citizens’
organizations blamed partly
blocked-off streets, poor parking
facilities, mud and construction
materials for their troubles. The
pinch began even before actual
underpass construction, they said,
during the months when streets
were being torn up to move public
utility lines. What the effect on
business will be, once the under
pass is complete and traffic is
flowing again, remains to be seen.
One of the critics was Leo G.
Hessler, a photographer at 1145
Connecticut avenue, and president
of the Connecticut Avenue Associ
ation. Made up of 150 professional
and businessmen, the association
joined several other groups in en
dorsing the underpass to break
the traffic bottle-neck that was
Dupont Circle.
Have Been Some Failures.
"A great many businessmen
have been hurt because their
places were not accessible to the
public,” Mr. Hessler said. “Ac
tually, there have been some busi
ness failures.”
H. E. Barnes, operator of Barnes
Fine Arts at 1226 Connecticut ave
nue and an association past presi
dent, declared:
“Merchants have told me their
businesses are off 25 to 80 per
cent, and a fair percentage is off
about 50 per cent. One furrier
went out of business. A restaurant
sold out and a store changed
hands. One organization operat
ing two stores combined them
into one. A hafrdresser told me
business had fallen off to practi
cally nothing.”
Mr. Barnes said that, in the
welter of complaints, some felt
"this section of Connecticut has
been wrecked forever.”
Two bankers, L. B. Pendleton,
vice president and manager of the
Riggs National Bank Dupont Cir
cle branch, and William Guy Ba
den, assistant cashier and man
ager of the Hamilton National
Bank Dupont Circle branch,
agreed that business generally had
suffered, but found their own busi
ness steady.
Peck & Peck Optimistic.
All were not gloomy over con
ditions or prospects. One optimist,
Emest R. Brett, manager of the
Keystone Automobile Club, 1643
Connecticut avenue, pointed out
that Peck & Peck, a ladies’ cloth
ing store of New York, had dem
onstrated enough faith in the fu
ture to open a store in the area
during the underpass construc
tion.
Col. E. Goring Bliss, assistant
manager of the Chesapeake &
Potomac Telephone Co. and presi
dent of the Dupont Circle Citizen
Association, believed improved
traffic conditions will make the
avenue a better business center
than ever.
“At Dupont Circle, Massa
chusetts and Connecticut avenues,
traffic conditions were becoming
a cancer that had to be operated
on,” he said.
In reciting some of the reasons
why the underpass was needed,
George E. Keneipp, director of
vehicles and traffic, said hundreds
of motorists who have avoided
the Dupont Circle traffic snarl
now will be attracted to the route.
This should be a boon to business,
he said.
' $2,000 Cars a Day.
Te9 bj? five busy streefl foraflng
lOSbokete of a giant whefil^the
circle traffic moved at a rate of
52,196 car§ in a 24-hour period.
This dense horde was checked
jusc before the war in 1940, and
it was figured traffic would pick
up to 61,833 vehicles by 1955.
Now the .new advantages of the
underpass, and a * resultant
smoother flow along Massachus
etts avenue, should attract 80,000
vehicles a day by 1960, Mr.
Keneipp said.
Removal of streetcar tracks
around the circle, one of them
carrying streetcars in a direction
opposite to the normal flow of
traffic, will help iron out the sur
face flow, while Connecticut ave
nue traffic will move through the
underpass.
Mr. Keneipp also sought to
alleviate fears of businessmen
that parking space in the circle
vicinity will be decreased.
“With judicious use of com
mercial loading zones, we will be
able to retain practically all the
present parking facilities,” he
said.
Boon to Pedestrians.
In addition to relieving delay,
congestion and confusion that
could not have been permanently
corrected on the surface, the
underpass will be of advantage to
pedestrians who had found the
massed traffic a great hazard, Mr.
Keneipp said. %
On the other side of the story,
District government construction
officials contend the business
complaints should be tempered
by recent reports of a 30 per cent
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national business recession. Busi
nessmen always incur some dis
location in a major construction
project, they said.
Some businessmen complained
that, even though streetcars con
tinued to run along the avenue,
passengers were unable to see into
shops because of the construction.
Mr. Hartke’s answer to this was
that $7,500 was spent to cut iron
sheeting jutting up over the
street, so the stores would be
visible from streetcars.
Co-oporate With Stores.
“The John McShain Co. (con
tractors) and the District govern
ment have tried to co-operate
with business interests,” he said.
“We built temporary roads and
sidewalks for the convenience of
business and let the public park
where possible.
Bather than clutter up the ave
nue with piles of steel, McShain
has stored it at a high rental at
the Fourteenth street S.W. rail
road yards, one official said. To
avoid interference with business,
the contractor handled his ma
terials as many as three or four
times.
District engineers considered it
something of a feat that public
utilities have been flowing steadily
to customers in the construction
area, despite the problems in
volved.
Next to business losses, the most
widely heard complaint is: “Won’t
they ever get done?”
“We heard three months ago
the project would be finished
around Thanksgiving,” said Gil
bert Dent, secretary of the Con
necticut Avenue Association. “A
month ago we were told that it
would-be March. Now we are in
formed unofficially that it looks
like late May or even September.
Some of the merchants say they
can’t hold on much longer.’’
85 Per Cent Completed.
Actually, said Mr. Hartke, the
job is about 85 per cent com
pleted and he hopes the finishing
touches may be applied in March.
J. N. Robertson, District high
way director, had hoped to turn
the completed underpass over to
the Commissioners as a “Christ
mas present.”
At one time the work was far
ahead of schedule, but last sum
mer’s succession of building trades
strikes brought a two months’
delay. As it is, the contractor is
right on schedule, and has until
March 8 to finish within the two
years alloted.
Because of the heavy overhead,
the McShain Co. has used every
possible device to speed the work
to completion, said Harry R.
Howser, the District’s bridge en
gineer. Night work was impossible
because it would disturb sleepers.
What is the status of the proj
ect today?
Complete: The east tube through
which street cars will start run
ning shortly. The two automobile
tubes running under the circle in
line of Connecticut avenue, but
not the entrances. Nine stairways
for passengers, five on the west
side and four on the east. Ap
proaches to the streetcar tubes
are complete except for coping
stone and iron rails.
West Tube Nears Completion.
Incomplete: The west side
streetcar tube, nearing completion.
Paving between the streetcar
tracks underground. Approaches
to the vehicular tunnels and the
depressed roadway from the circle
to Q street. The north ramp to
carry traffic over Q street.
Street and sidewalk paving is
now under way on the east half of
the circle. Mr. Robinson believes
the entire roadway around the
circle will be open to traffic by
Christmas—an encouraging note
to storekeepers.
Contracts are being let piece by
piece in another effort to expedite
work, Mr. Robertson said.
Some underpass opponents
think the cost—$3,862,953.40—is
greater than the worth. The more
skeptical laymen believe the ulti
mate cost may rise to $5,000,000,
but District engineers are con
fident of staying within the con
tract figure.
U. S. Fays Half Cost.
Half the cost is being footed by
the Federal Government. In addi
tion, Capital Transit Co. is spend
ing upwards of $500,000 for put
ting down the underpass tracks
and rerouting some on the surface.
Fears that walls would be
cracked, foundations damaged,
cellars flooded and persons injured
from the blasting has proved
groundless, officials said.
No major claims have been filed
either against the McShain com
pany or its bonding company.
Only a few minor claims, such as
torn clothing, have been paid by
the bonding company.
Mr. Hartke said there has been
no settling of structures along the
entire half-mile construction
route. Drilling, instead of blast
ing, was the method used of cut
ting away rock formations in the
Dupont Circle area.
Soil Stabilized.
When no basements were found
under most buildings on the. east
side of the avenue between the
circle and R street N.W., $25,000
was spent to stabilize the soil with
cinder concrete and sand backfill.
Similar work was done for 150
feet between the circle and Q
street on the west side, costing
$5,000.
Many of the worriers have seen
the beauty of the circle destroyed.
One of the worries will be removed
when workmen return to its right
ful place the statue that long
stood in the circle.
National Capital Parks officials
eased the situation further with
assurance that the circle itself will
be restored to something resem
bling its old self. Shade trees
again will sprout on Connecticut
and Massachusetts avenues and
around the circle. About 100 of
them were removed between N
and S streets N.W.,
Others who have complained
of iron railings at the entrances of
the street car tunnels apparently
must learn to bear it, for they will
remain there for safety reasons.
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Labor
(Continued From First Page.)
tinue was not known, but it ap
peared likely President Truman
may be'forced to invoke national
emergency provisions of the Taft
Hartley Act, which he tried un
successfully to have the last ses
sion of Congress remove from the
statute books. The big stick in
that law is anti-strike injunction
which would end a strike for 80
days.
However, Federal officials would
not say they are considering
emergency action yet. At the
White House it was said that Mr.
Truman is still pinning his hopes
on a voluntary settlement of the
steel strike, which would pave the
way for peace in the coal industry.
The Government also would not
say how much longer the strikes
will be allowed to continue before
the President takes emergency
action. But fabricating plants
employing thousands of workers
are known to be running out of
steel. Others were short of coal.
The giant automobile industry
already is feeling effects of the
shortages and has said it will be
forced to cut operations drastical
ly if the strikes continue much
longer.
Picture Is Bleak.
The picture was far from cheer
ing in the various efforts to set
tle the strikes by negotiation and
mediation.
In New York, the conferences
between Cyrus S. Ching, Federal
mediation chief, and United Steel
Corp. executives were in recess
until tomorrow. In three days
of • talks with U. S. Steel, giant
of the industry, Mr. Ching has
not succeeded in discovering a
basis for settlement acceptable
to both “Big Steel” and the strik
ing CIO-United Steel workers,
who are fighting for free pen
sions and insurance.
Several d^ys ago hopes were
high that the disputants would
accept a formula which provided
for the ironing out of narrow dif
ferences between the disputants
by negotiation over the months
ahead. It was understood the
union balked at the plan.
The companies are willing to
pay the 10 cents per worker an
hour for pensions and insurance
as suggested by the Truman fact
finding board, but are unwilling
to go along with the board rec
ommendation that the workers
should not chip in themselves.
Actually some of the companies
are paying almost 10 cents into
funds with their employes con
tributing nothing. The union is
adamant in its stand that the
employers carry the entire bur
den.
Negotiations between the mine
workers and the largest segment
of the coal industry—Northern
and Western operators—have
been broken off. George H. Love
of Pittsburgh, chief spokesman
for the operators, led his delega
tion from the White Sulphur
Springs (W. Va.) conference room
Friday, saying further negotia
tions were “useless.” He bitterly
denounced Mr. Lewis.
Negotiations in Bluefleld, W.
Va., between Mr. Lewis’ “second
team” and the Southern operators
are to be resumed Tuesday, but
there seemed little liklihood they
would reach contract agreement.
Coal Production Down.
Meanwhile, the National Coal
Association announced that soft
coal production this year is run
ning 125,000,000 tons or more than
25 per cent under last year. Total
production so far this year was
placed at 341,000,000. John D.
Battle, association executive, said
that strikes were resopnsible for
most of the tonnage drop, but he
conceded that part of it was at
tributable to market conditions.
In conferences extending over
the last four months the operators
and Mr. Lewis have been unable
to agree on terms of a new con
tract to replace the agreement
which expired June 30. In fact
the nearest the disputants have
come to discussing specific terms
of a new agreement was Mr.
Lewis’ general demand for a pact
which would add from 30 to 35
cents a ton to production costs.
He wants that amount in the
form of increased payments to
his welfare and pension fund,
shorter working hours and higher
wages, but he did not give a
breakdown.
On the steel front, the CIO an
nounced the signing of 17 small
steel fabricating firms to con
tracts providing for free pension
and insurance. The firms employ
4,100 workers, and it brings the
total of workers now covered by
new pacts with the Steelworkers
to 48,250 workers. *
If there is a breakdown of Mr.
Ching’s talks with United States
Steel, he may be expected to call
in Mr. Lewis and the mine opera- i
tors for talks here possibly by the
middle of the week.
Alabama Coal Truck
Riddled by Gunfire
HALEYVILLE, Ala., Oct. 22 (JP)
—Sheriff B. O. Hunter said today
a band of armed men fired on a
loaded coal truck last night,
slightly wounding the driver. The
truck was riddled by gunfire.
Sheriff Hunter said Merschel
Sprinkle, 19. Eldred, Ala., told
him four automobiles trailed the
truck for several miles before
opening fire. Mr. Sprinkle was
accompanied by Jimmy Cole, also
of Eldred. The attack was made
about ' 8 p.m., seven miles from
Haley ville.
Mr. Sprinkle said he and Mr.
Collins loaded the truck with coal
at the Eldridge Coal Co. in Win
ston County. He said the coal was
mined before the coal strike
started.
Guest Lecturer at Gallery
Dr. Stephen S. Kayser, curator
of the New York Jewish Museum,
will be guest lecturer at 4 p.m.
today at the National Gallery of
Art, Sixth street and Constitution
avenue N.W. He will discuss
“Ceremonial Religious Art of the
Jewish People.”
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