The Mayor of the District of Columbia is authorized and directed to construct a viaduct and approaches to eliminate the crossing at grade of Michigan Avenue and the tracks and right-of-way of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company, said viaduct to be constructed north of the present line of Michigan Avenue as may be determined by the Mayor of the District of Columbia in accordance with plans and profiles of said works to be approved by the said Mayor; provided, that one-half of the total cost of constructing the said viaduct and approaches shall be borne and paid by the said railroad company, its successors and assigns, to the Collector of Taxes of the District of Columbia to the credit of the District of Columbia, and the same shall be a valid and subsisting lien against the franchises and property of the said railroad company and shall constitute a legal indebtedness of said company in favor of the District of Columbia, and the said lien may be enforced in the name of the District of Columbia by a bill in equity brought by the said Mayor in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, or by any other lawful proceeding against the said railroad company; provided further, that from and after the completion of the said viaduct and approaches the highway grade crossing over the tracks and right-of-way of the said Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company in line of present Michigan Avenue shall be forever closed against further traffic of any kind.

(Mar. 3, 1927, 44 Stat. 1351, ch. 305, § 1; Feb. 12, 1931, 46 Stat. 1087, ch. 119; June 14, 1935, 49 Stat. 349, ch. 241, § 1; June 25, 1936, 49 Stat. 1921, ch. 804; June 25, 1948, 62 Stat. 991, ch. 646, § 32(b); May 24, 1949, 63 Stat. 107, ch. 139, § 127; July 29, 1970, 84 Stat. 571, Pub. L. 91-358, title I, § 155(c)(25).)

1981 Ed., § 7-520.

1973 Ed., § 7-520.

This section is referenced in § 9-321.

Office of Collector of Taxes abolished: See Historical and Statutory Notes following § 9-310.

This section originated at a time when local government powers were delegated to a Board of Commissioners of the District of Columbia (see Acts Relating to the Establishment of the District of Columbia and its Various Forms of Governmental Organization in Volume 1). Section 401 of Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1967 (see Reorganization Plans in Volume 1) transferred all of the functions of the Board of Commissioners under this section to a single Commissioner. The District of Columbia Self-Government and Governmental Reorganization Act, 87 Stat. 818, § 711 ( D.C. Code, § 1-207.11), abolished the District of Columbia Council and the Office of Commissioner of the District of Columbia. These branches of government were replaced by the Council of the District of Columbia and the Office of Mayor of the District of Columbia, respectively. Accordingly, and also pursuant to § 714(a) of such Act ( D.C. Code, § 1-207.14(a)), appropriate changes in terminology were made in this section.