  We present 5.2" x 2.6" resolution interferometry of CO J=1-0 emission from
the starburst galaxy NGC 253. The high spatial resolution of these new data, in
combination with recent high resolution maps of 13CO, HCN and near-infrared
emission, allow us for the first time to link unambiguously the gas properties
in the central starburst of NGC 253 with its bar dynamics. We confirm that the
star formation results from bar-driven gas flows as seen in "twin peaks"
galaxies. Two distinct kinematic features are evident from the CO map and
position-velocity diagram: a group of clouds rotating as a solid body about the
kinematic center of the galaxy, and a more extended gas component associated
with the near-infrared bar. We model the line intensities of CO, HCN and 13CO
to infer the physical conditions of the gas in the nucleus of NGC 253. The
results indicate increased volume densities around the radio nucleus in a
twin-peaks morphology. Compared with the CO kinematics, the gas densities
appear highest near the radius of a likely inner Linblad resonance, and
slightly lead the bar minor axis. This result is similar to observations of the
face-on, twin-peaks galaxy NGC 6951, and is consistent with models of starburst
generation due to gas inflow along a bar.
