Evening star., 1925-08-09
STUDY BOULEVARD
SITES IN VIRGINIA
Army Engineers Seek Three
Possible Routes for 200
Foot Roadway.

Reconnaissance are being made by
l.. S. Army engineers in the territory
between Arlington and Falls Church,
Va. for the purpose of selecting three
possible routes for a proposed 200
foot-wide boulevard to connect with
the approach on the Virginia end of
The Arlington Memorial Bridge, now
in course of construction. The Army
engineers have made surveys from the
Virginia end of the bridge along the
north side of Arlington Cemetery and
through the military reservation at
Fort Myer. This section is included
in the bridge approach. and one of
The problems that is being faced now
Is the manner of going through the
military reservation.
From the bridge approach at the
end of the military reservation to
Falls Church the engineers have been
examining this undeveloped area with
a view to selecting some route for a
boulevard which Will connect with the
Lee highway at Falls Church. Three
tentative routes will be selected, and
these propositions will be discussed in
the near future at a conference be-
tween Lieut.. Col. Clarence 0. Sheriff.,
director of public buildings and public
parks of the National Capital and eX-
ecutive officer of the Arlington Me-
mortal Bridge Commission; state Com
missioner of Highways Shirley of Nir-
Sinia. and DIR. ). NJ. Johnston, manag-
ing director of the Lee Highway As
socidtion.
Beautiful Road Planned.
The proposed boulevard, so far as
ii has developed in the planning stage,
would have a roadway 2o0 feet wide,
with provision for three lanes of traf-
tic. with beautiful parking and trees
lining the sides and dividing the va
rious roadways. Then from the high
way line there would be a restricted
building line set so feet back on either
side. The Lee highway, already ap-
proved by the Virginia State highways
department, reaches Washington now
by way of the Key Bridge, in George
town. and there is no proposal that
1t will ultimately connect with the
proposed Memorial Bridge. But it was
desirable to those interested in the
Improvement of the road approaches
TO Washington from the South to
have a direct connection with the
Memorial Bridge, and they conceived
the idea of this boulevard to connect
with the bridge approach at Arlington
and with the Lee highway at Falls
Church
The area along the present Lee
highway from the Key Bridge to Falls
Church is now so developed that the
proposal for a boulevard could not be
carried out without great expense. 1t
has been designated by the Joint
Board on Interstate Highways as one
Of the arterial highways to be desig-
mated United States Highway" The
route has been completed from Wash
ington to New Market, in the Valley of
Virginia, a distance OF 107 miles. The
proposed boulevard. which will con-
meet with and interseCt the Lee high
way at the Episcopal Church in Falls
Church, is to be through undeveloped
territory, where the boulevard plan
can be carried out with the least ex-
panse.
Hope for Bridge Soon
In order to realize the dream of
great highway from Washington to
the South the Arlington Memorial
Bridge must be completed, and it is
the hope of the Lee Highway Asso-
citation that work on the bridge may
be speeded up so the great structure
will be completed in five years, in
stead of going ahead under the six
year program of appropriations now
under way. The association intends
to go before Congress to impress
upon the legislative body the need for
a roadway of adequate capacity to
handle the rapidly increasing We
hicular traffic now crossing the new
Key Bridge. Purely as an economic
measure, the association claims the
Arlington Memorial Bridge should be
rushed to completion.
Ten thousand automobiles now
cross the Key Bridge daily from
nearby Virginia. says DR.. Johnson.
What Will that traffic be in five
years. with the known rate of auto
mobile traffic increase, and will the
Key Bridge be adequate to handle it?
Congress cannot justify to the tax
payers of the nation a leisurely gait
in construction of the new bridge on
economic and traffic grounds alone.
When savings in money and facility
in handling traffic can be shown, we
think Congress will soon bring it
self to see the need for rapid con-
struction of the new bridge.
The new roadway itself from the
Virginia end Of the Arlington Bridge
will be of concrete Is feet wide
DR.. johnson says, however, that
only 40 structures will have to be
moved on one of the proposed routes
THE basis of final decision will not
be the opportunities Of real estate
enterprise or any other factor than
proper esthetic development" he adds.
The road will locate as near where
it ought to be as human counsel and
scientific judgment can locate it. The
cooperation of the park commission,