Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-11-27
ARLINGTON BRIDGE
APPROACH BLOCKED
Held Up by RefusaI,of Right of
Way Through Fort Myer,
Says Chairman.
BY LESTER N. INSKEEP.
STAFF Correspondent of The Star,

been seeking the privilege 10 construct
an adequate approach to the new Arl-
ington Memorial Bridge and that the
plans of the highway commission have
been blocked by the refusal of the War
Department to issue a permit for the
! construction of the highway across the
/ Fort Myer military reservation was re-
| vealed yesterday by H. @. Shirley.
chairman of the Virginia roads oody, at
a meeting at the Army, Navy and Ma
rine Corps Country Club, at which we're
present Gov. Harry F. Byrd Col. U. 5.
/ Grant. executive officer OF the National
! Capital Park and Planning Commission:
| REPRESENTATIVE Louis c. Cramton and
other notables.
| While not taking vindicrve atu-
tude. Shirley made 1t plain that the
commission has been for many months,
and is still. ready to construct nl9n-
way directly from the new bridge to
| junction with the Lee Highway at
noint south of Fails Church II the
! proper cooperation can be had from
! the Federal Government. AS result
| of his failure to accomplish this Shir-
| lev revealed, 1t has been necessary for
! the commission to lay plans Tor the
| construction of the Lee Boulevard 10
start from a point at the western boun-
| Diary Of Fort Myer.
state Ready to Act.
| Leaving no doubt in the minds of his
! listeners as to the intention OF the
state to start as quickly as possible
with the grading for the new boulevard,
Shirley said that the commission Is
prepared to institute condemnation
proceedings where they are necessary
ia ACQUIRE any rights way that nave
not already been donated by property
owners.
In referring to his failure to secure
a permit for the right-of-Way through
Fort Myer, Shirley stated that ne mad
asked for a revocable permit, intending,
he said, to have a bill; introduced in
Congress to have it made permanent II
granted It was turned down for mill
tary reasons, he said.
Gov. Byrd, who, at his own request.
was the last speaker on the program,
impressed upon the others attending
the conference that he was not IN the
habit of travelling about the State on
questions Of highway allocatlons and
similar projects, but that he realized
that the problems of Arlington County
are Statewide and as such are deserV-
| ing of the consideration OF the chief
executive of the Commonwealth.
He does not know. Gov. Byrd declared,
of any county In the state that has as
many dif1cult problems to face as mas
! Arlington. While he and other state
I offeisls are despl. interested In ana
anxious to lend their aid in the solu-
| ton of these problems, the governor
| said, he belle S@S that 1t is necessary for
Fthe Board of County Supervisors and
| other county organizations to reach
| DEFINITE agreement as to what they
want. When this is done. he declared,
! the State will be willing to lend her as
sistance in realizing the goal.
Praises OfacIaIs' Work.
GOV. Byrd was hearty in his praise of
| the work of Col. Grant, Representative
/ Cranton and Shirley, chairman of his
! own highway commission. In referring
| to the latter. he stated that when Shir-
| lev became chairman of the commission
| In 1928 there were few decent roads IN
the state. In the past six years, he de-
clared, the annual expenditure for high.
way use by the State has increased
! from SIS, 000, 900 in 1928 to the $780,
| 600 that will be expended during the
| coming year. In the same time the
| state highway system has been in
| CREASED from 1000 to 1000 miles. While
! the increase IN the mileage has not been
| nearly so great as has the annual ex-
! penditure, it was pointed out, the COM
| mission has expended millions OF dollars
| in the reconstruction OF highways al
ready In the system that were made
| uuats for the load that they were re-
+ quired to carry.
| The governor indicated that yester-
days meeting was in no way to take
! the place of the one that he has an
| nounced his intention of calling In
| Richmond, but that the former confer
ence had been requested of the Airing
| ton County Chamber of Commerce IN
an effort to more thoroughly familiarize
| himself with the problems to be solved
before calling the Richmond meeting.
He also said that Gov .-eIect William G
Pollard sent regrets at not being able
to attend yesterdays conference, but
announced that the incoming admins
tration will support any action with
regard to Arlington County's problems
that is taken by the present one.
Preceding Gov. Byrd and Shirley on
the program were Col. Grant, Dr. Sam
uel M. johnson president of the Ma
tional Boulevard Association, and Rep
resentative Cramton.
Col. Grants Views.
Col Grant said that the National
Capital Park and Planning Commission
has always approved the proposed To-
cation of the Lee Boulevard and that
the only stumbling block now Is the
situation with regard to the military
reservation. Various suggestions have
been offered in an effort to overcome
this diff1culty, he stated. and all are
being given consideration. One sugges-
ton is that the Federal commission take
over the section of the road extending
from the bridge to Whipple street. This
would require special legislation, he SAID
but will be taken up with the President
and the bridge commission.
In so far as We can help to solve the
problem" Col. Grant declared. I'VE shall
do so, and while we feel strongly that
the project should be- carried out, we dc