Evening star., 1940-01-07


the building of the LudloW's F7er
Dahlgren Bridge, a major develop
ment from the standpoint of in
proved traffic handling in number
of States along the Atlantic sea-
board. Completion of this bridge
is expected during the early part
of the new decade.
Tunnel Under Potomac.
A railroad tunnel under the Po-
tomac to replace the present rail-
road bridge and carry all south
bound rail traffic out of Washing
ton has been strongly advocated
by national defense authorities and
civil engineers. 1t has been proposed
that such tunnel serve as the
foundation for new motor We
hicle bridge across the river at a
point somewhat south of the pres
ent railroad bridge. Completion of
the jefferson Memorial is expected
to hasten the construction of this
tunnel to remove an unsightly back
ground to one of the worlds most
beautiful monuments.
The amazingly rapid development
of the Virginia suburbs-Arlingto
County is said to be the fastest.
growing county in the United States
today-unquestionably will lead to
an increasing demand for addition
al bridges across the Potomac dur
ing the decade Plans already have
been prepared for bridge in the
vicinity of Great Falls.
Although the growth of the Great
er Washington area is dependent, TO
very great extent, upon the growth
of the Federal Government and.
therefore. upon national and inter-
national conditions which may very
materially affect local population
trends, all indications point to
continuation of the present rate of
growth into the new decade.
During the quarter century since
the beginning of the World War the
population of Washington virtually
has doubled. 1t is said that no
other large American city except
Detroit and Los Angeles has shown
such growth during the same period.
The anticipated growth of the
Greater Washington area during the
new decade will impose responsible
ties which cannot be escaped upon
Congress, the District government,
planning officials and others con-
cerned officially with local problems
Frederic A. Delano. chairman of
the National Capital Park and Plan
ming Commission. in recent letter
to The Star, called attention to some
of the responsibilities which are
imposed by the growth of Washing
ton and its environs. Purchase of
areas needed for future park and
other public developments must not
be neglected, he pointed out. 1t
also is obviously necessary, he said
to carry forward needed public works
such as the building of bridges, great
trunk line sewers and sewage dis
posal plants, traffic arteries and the
like.
"Such great undertakings cannot
be built on a piecemeal cash basis:
their cost, because they are long
time, major developments, must be
spread over 10 to 20 years." Mr..
Delano said. take the case of the
talked-of improvement of East Capt.
tol street, which has been before
the public fer Is years, but which
cannot advance on piecemeal or
block-to- o-block basis. To do such
job right will cost, say, $4,000. 900,
but it will add far more than SIS
600 900 to the taxable value Of the
large area east of the Capitol which
is now blighted. If Congress will
authorize our city to borrow, either
in the open market or from the Re-
construction Finance Corp, we can
probably borrow on 2 per cent
basis, and without overburdening
our budget, amortize the debt in
Cured in IS to 20 years"
In subsequent articles, The Star
will discuss in greater detail some
of the features of the recent growth
of Greater Washington which have
a bearing upon the anticipated fu-
ture growth of the National Capital
and its metropolitan area.
These signs indicate not only q
prosperous new year. but q lusty
new decade for the Nations Capital.