Evening star., 1933-10-18
s2O,OO0,ODO ASKED
FOR SCENIC ROUTE.
600. Mile Highway Linking
! Capital With Great Park
7 Areas Praised by ICkeS.

The proposal for great scenic
highway, 900 miles lorg, linking the
Capital with the two great Eastern
backgrounds of the future. the Shenan-
doah and Great Smokes National Parks,
was formally presented to Public Works
Administrator Ickes yesterday by Sen
Rtors Byrd of Virginia and Reynolds
OF North Carolina.
Representing Virginia, North Caro-
lima and Tennessee. group, meeting
in Senator Byrd's Office yesterday drew
up the plans, abandoning proposal for
tolls partly paying for the project and
requesting instead that it be a 100
per cent Federal project"
The recommendation included a 65
mile link from Washington to Thorn
tons Gap. the present northern gateway
into the proposed Shenandoah National
PaIk.
S20,000,000 Fund Needed.
The recommendation asked that tie
Public Works Administration set aside
S20000,000 for the project It was
signed by George L. Radcliffe of Bal
timore. regional public works director;
,Arno B. Cammerer, director of ma
tional parks; Thomas H. Macdonald.
chief of the Bureau of Public Roads
of the Department of Agriculture, and
representatives of the three States in
yolVed.
A brief general statement, advocating
q 20-foot surfaced roadway, with 6-foot
shoulders, accompanied the recon-
mendation.
Macdonald informed Ickes that con-
struction on the project could be started
within 80 days after the allotment was
made.
Earlier yesterday. at his press con-
ference, Public Works Administrator
t1ckes characterized the proposal, as
soutlined to him last week by Senator
Byrd. as "a grand scheme" This at
tltude of 1ckeS is regarded as indicative
of generally favorable attitude toward
the project by the entire Public Works
Board, to which the proposal must be
Submitted before going to the White
House for final approval.
Original Plan Left Out.
Favorable action by the board on the
present proposal would eliminate the
necessity of applying the original plan
for the construction Of the highway with
the partial aid of tolls along the road
Senator Byrd's original proposal was for
partial Government grant and the
remainder a loan, to be liquidated
by tolls. This plan, it is expected,
will be resorted to if the proposal
for 100 per cent Federal project is
turned down.
The project is especially significant to
Washingtonians, who will, if it is ap-
proved, have practically at their door
the Governments great Eastern play
ground. There are at present three
Eastern parks contemplated: The
Shenandoah Park, not yet Government
property; the Great Smokes area, en-
hraninp nj tho UilHpSt and n1nSt
beautiful country in the East, and the
small Acadia National Park in New
England.
Linking of the two large parks would
provide WashingtonianS with great
area which would be actually an addi
ton to its existing park system. and
would make Washington the northern
starting point for one of the most beau
tiful motor tours in the country.
Thirty Miles Constructed.
Already more than 80 miles of the
highway, now called Skyline Drive"
has been constructed with drought re-
lief funds allotted Virginia after the
drought of 1880. This roadway, not yet
open to the public, winds along the
crest of the highest ridges of the Blue
Ridge Mountains, affordlng beautiful
views of the fertile valleys ON either
Slde. AT one place near The start VI tHe
present road it traverseS tunnel hewn
through solid rock for about 800 feet,
piercing one of the Blue Ridge peaks,
Mary's Rock. near the summit.
The present road runs from Thorn
tons Gap, at Panorama, Va, to Swift
Run Gap, and original plans were for
extending it from Front Royal, Va, in
the north, to near Waynesboro, Va. in
the south Along the present road there
is a side road which runs down the
mountains to the former Summer camp
of President Hoover. at the headWaters
of the Rapidan River. This camp has
been turned over to the National Park
Service. as an integral part of the pro-
posed Shenandoah National Park. and
has been used this Summer by several
Government officials. Secretary OF the
Navy Swanson has been one OF the
most frequent visitors to the camp.
Members of the Roosevelt family have
not made use of the c"mp.