Burying the Cobbles

Paving machines and squads of construction workers drew within a block of Harvard Square yesterday as work continued on operation "rotary."

Stimulated by efferts to solve the congestion problem at the Square, work on other projects will probably be concluded early next week. Actual construction in the Square--rounding off the corners of the kiosk island and installing lights--has been finished, and only tarring and wiring jobs remain.

In discontinuing trolley traffic between Central Square and Harvard Square, City Engineer Edgar Davis and state engineers decided that any attempt to salvage the track would be wasted effort. Davis explains that the roadbed is fortunately low along Massachusetts Avenue, and for that reason two and one-half inches of tar can be applied directly on top of the track. Rather than harming the paving job, the track, instead, adds strength to the roadbed. Work will continue today and probably tomorrow, with traffic limited on Plympton, Dunster, Holyoke, and Lindon streets, and Massachusetts Avenue during most of the remaining construction.

Buses now running between Central and Harvard squares will be replaced with trolley buses as soon as overhead wiring operations are completed, probably late next week. Recent early morning strollers have probably noticed this phase of operation "rotary" now on Massachusetts Avenue near Lamont. Waiting until traffic subsides, two large trucks--replete with elevators--aid a squad of about eight men in stringing current and support wires along the length of the Avenue.