tKfje CommontoPaltf) of jffltoadm£eits; FIFTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT OP THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS Year ending November 30, 1934 To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts In accordance with the provisions of law, I have the honor, as Commissioner of Public Works, to submit the fifteenth annual report of the Department of Public Works for the year ending November 30, 1934. The organization of the Department as defined in Chapter 16, General Laws, as amended by chapter 297, Acts of 1927, was as follows: Commissioner of Public Works, Frank E. Lyman. Associate Commissioner, Richard K. Hale. Associate Commissioner, Herman A. MacDonald, to January 24, 1934. Associate Commissioner, William F. Callahan, from February 6, 1934. Office Building. The new office building to accommodate the various offices of the Department, now houses the main and Engineering offices of the Department and the Registry of Motor Vehicles occupying in total the equivalent of seven floors and basement. In accordance with the Act, Chapter 122, Acts of 1931, authorizing the construction of this building, the space not immediately required by the Department has been assigned to other State Departments by the State Superintendent of Buildings, with the approval of the Governor and Council. The other departments now located in the building include the following: the Massachusetts Nautical School; the Public Employment Service of the Depart- ment of Labor and Industries; the Teachers' Retirement Board of the Department of Education; the Division of Insurance, of the Department of Banking and Insurance; the Department of Public Utilities and the Division of Smoke Abate- ment of the same department; and the Division of Adult Hygiene of the Department of Public Health. Summary of Highways Constructed. The mileage of new State highways laid out during the year amounted to 29.53 miles, but there were abandoned or dis- continued 1.33 miles of State highways, so that the net mileage of State highways amounted to 1,852.26 miles at the end of the fiscal year, November 30, 1934. The Department has constructed, reconstructed and widened 85.041 miles of State highways and built 156.648 miles of roads in cooperation with cities, towns and counties under the provisions of chapter 90, General Laws, and, in addition has constructed 62.902 miles of highways under the provisions of Special Acts. Under the provisions of section 26, chapter 81, General Laws, the Department has had charge of the repair and maintenance of 8,830 miles of public ways, exclusive of State highways in 178 towns. A number of outstanding projects were begun during the year as follows: At Newburyport, on the Newburyport Turnpike route, the construction of a State highway on new location and rigid frame bridges of concrete and steel under High and Washington Streets to provide for through traffic, the pavement consisting of three lanes of reinforced cement concrete on each side of a center reservation ; the construction of about 15 miles of the new Concord Turnpike, a State highway, in the towns of Arlington, Belmont, Lexington, Lincoln and Concord, largely on new location, with a pavement of concrete providing for four lanes of traffic with bituminous shoulders; in Lowell and Tyngsborough the reconstruction of about 4 miles of State highway along the Pawtucket Boulevard; in Easton, Raynham and Taunton the reconstruction of more than 9 miles of State highway; con- struction begun on the new Fore River Bridge over the Weymouth Fore River in the City of Quincy and the Town of Weymouth, the total length of the bridge being 1,324 feet and the retaining wall approaches being 1,068 feet, providing for a reinforced concrete roadway 60 feet wide and a draw, with a 219-foot span, steel, two leaf rolling lift draw, with a clear river channel 175 feet in width; construction — — — — 2 P. D. 54 begun on the new General Clarence R. Edwards bridge over Saugus River in the Cities of Lynn and Revere, providing for a roadway 60 feet wide and with a draw opening to give a clear channel width of 100 feet; the construction begun on the reconstruction of nearly 10 miles of the Mohawk Trail State highway in the Town of Charlemont; and the construction of the North Shore Road in Revere. The engineering and clerical staff of the Department was as follows: Chief Engineer, Aethue W. Dean. Highway Engineer (Projects), Franklin C. Pillsbubt. Highway Engineer (Construction), Raymond W. Coburn. Highway Engineer (Maintenance), George H. Delano. Bridge Engineer, George E. Harkness. District Highway Engineers: District No. 1, George A. Curtis—Berkshire County and the Towns of Worth- ington, Middlefield and Huntington in Hampshire County, and the Towns of Chester, Montgomery, Russell, Blandford and Tolland in Hampden County. District No. 2, H. D. Phillips—Franklin, Hampshire and Hampden Counties, with the following exceptions : three towns in Hampshire County included in District No. 1 and ten towns in Hampden County included in Districts Nos. 1 and 3. District No. 3, John A. Johnston—Worcester County and the Towns of Brim- field, Holland, Monson, Palmer and Wales in Hampden County. District No. 4, F. D. Sabin—Middlesex County. District No. 5, James E. Lawrence—Essex and Suffolk counties. District No. 6, H. 0. Parker, Norfolk and Bristol Counties. District No. 7, H. C. Holden—Plymouth, Barnstable, Dukes and Nantucket Counties. District Waterways Engineer, for Boston Harbor John N. Ferguson. District Waterways Engineer, for harbors and waterways outside Boston Harbor Francis L. Sellew. Secretary, Mary A. Riley. Financial Secretary, Fred Fair. Registry of Motor Vehicles Registrar, Morgan T. Ryan. Deputy Registrar, Anthony A. Bonzagni. Assistant to the Registrar of Motor Vehicles, Alfred W. Devine. Chief Administrative Clerk, Charles R. Gilley. Chief Inspector of Motor Vehicles, Albert S. Olsson. A detailed report of the activities of the Department for the year is presented herewith. FRANK E. LYMAN, Commissioner of Public Works. December 1, 1934. SPECIAL REPORTS TO THE LEGISLATURE The Department was authorized and directed by the Legislature to make certain investigations, and the reports thereon were made as follows: Costs and routes of proposed State Highways in or near the City of Fitchburg. Report made December 5, 1933, by the Department of Public Works, under Chapter 14, Resolves of 1933. (Senate 2 of 1934.) _ The construction of a highway in the City of Quincy and the Town of Milton. Report made December 5, 1933, by the Department of Public Works, under Chapter 16, Resolves of 1933. (House 164 of 1934.) Traffic conditions on or near the Newburyport Turnpike, so-called, and as to the abolition of the railroad grade crossing at State Street in the Town of Newbury. Report made December 4, 1933, by the Department of Public Works under Chapter 21 of the Resolves of 1933. (Senate 3 of 1934.) Certain proposed traffic routes in the Metropolitan District. Report made by the Department of Public Works under Chapter 24, of the Resolves of 1933. (House 165 of 1934.) — — — P. D. 54 3 The construction of a new State Highway in the Towns of Hopkinton, Upton, Northbridge, Sutton, Douglas and Webster. Report made December 4, 1933, by the Department of Public Works, under Chapter 31 of the Resolves of 1933. (House 163 of 1934.) Reconstructing a bridge over Mystic River between the Cities of Boston and Chelsea. Report made December 1, 1933, by Special Commission established by Chapter 36 of 1933—Commissioner and Associate Commissioners of the Depart- ment of Public Works, the City Engineer of the City of Chelsea and the City Engineer of the City of Revere. (House 176 of 1934.) Licensing contractors and builders and relative to certain matters relating to contracts for and the employment of persons on public works. Report made by a special Commission, including the Commissioner of Public Works, in accordance with Chapter 33 ol the Resolves of 1933. (House 1250 of 1934.) Taxation by the Town of Russell of the dam and other structures of the Cobble Mountain Development. Report made December 6, 1933, under the provisions of Chapter 11 of the Resolves of 1933, by a Special Commission including the Chief Engineer of the Department of Public Works. (Senate 35 of 1934.) RECOMMENDATIONS FOR LEGISLATION The Commissioner of Public Works presented to the State Secretary on Decem- ber 5, 1934, as required by law, that part of the current annual report which con- tains recommendations or suggestions for legislative action as follows: 1. At the present time the Department of Public Works has limited authority only, in regard to the regulation of speed of vehicles on highways. For some time it has been felt that no adequate or satisfactory solution of the problem of speed control has been discovered. The Department asks authority to experiment on various rules and devices on certain highways to determine whether or not a satis- factory solution of the speed problem can be reached by carrying out at the same time both scientific studies and practical tests of various ideas. It also requests authority for a limited period to establish from time to time such rules and regu- lations as may be necessary to carry out these plans. 2. Legislation to require automobiles to be equipped with a device to limit the speed thereof is recommended. 3. Legislation is desirable in order to clarify the intent of the law relative to detail of description of numbers on number plates. 4. An amendment is desired to clarify the law relative to the non-criminal disposition of charges for violation of motor vehicle parking rules, regulations, orders, ordinances and by-laws. 5. A further amendment is recommended providing for a penalty for making false statements in applications for the registration of motor vehicle trailers.