Evening star., 1941-01-25
Member of the Associated Press.
Virginia Avenue

The approval by the Fine Arts
Commission of a compromise plan
for the location of an annex to the
Pan-American Union Building does
not, of course, settle controversy
which has stirred officials and citi-
zens for several years. The latest
proposal, presumably to be lncor-
porated in a bill and presented to
Congress, would solve some OF the
esthetic problems which have Wor-
ried the Fine Arts Commission, the
National Capital Park and Planning
Commission, Secretary of the Inte-
rior Ickes and others, but it would
leave unsolved the very serious prac-
tical problem of traffic congestion
In the affected area.
In the middle of the controversy,
through no fault of its own, is the
Pan-American Union, whose only
interest is to find a suitable annex
site as substitute for the one which
Congress approved more than a dec
ade ago. That site embraced the
triangle formed by Virginia avenue,
B street (now Constitution avenue)
and Nineteenth street. This con-
gressional authorization still stands.
Meanwhile, plans for actual con-
struction of the annex have been
held up because of vigorous protests
by Secretary IckeS against erection
of any structure that would block
the Constitution avenue vista of the
new Interior Department home. Sew
eral months ago the Park and Plan
ming Commission approved a plan
which involved the closing of Sec
ton of Virginia avenue and the
diverting of heavy traffic around the
annex site. Immediately there arose
an outcry from civic interests and
from others interested in traffic con-
troll, the claim being made that the
closing of the present mouth" of
Virginia avenue at Constitution ave-
nue. would create an intolerable bot
tleneck in that vicinity.
But the compromise proposal is
subject to the same criticism. 1t
calls for location of the annex i'm
mediately adjacent to the present
property of the union, on site ex-
tending partly into the existing right
of way of Eighteenth street, which
would be relocated slightly to the
west. To preserve the symmetry OF
the Interior Department vista, Nine
teenth street would be bent slightly
to the east between c street and
Constitution avenue. Virginia ave-
nue. would be closed from the point
of it's present intersection with Con-
stitution avenue to Nineteenth street,
and traffic to and from Constitution
avenue would be rerouted along
Nineteenth street by way of right
angle turn.
. The diversion and almost inevita-
Bile bottlenecking of truck and pas
senger car traffic in this way would
present a problem which could not
lightly be dismissed. Virginia ave-
nue. has become one of the principal
arteries between downtown Washing
ton and such outlying sections as
Georgetown, Virginia and the North
west residential areas served by the
Rock Greek Parkway. So far Dis
trict highway officials have not been
consulted about this plan. 1t has
been their policy, however, to oppose
the closing of any major thorough
fare, or the construction of any per-
manent detourS, interfering with the
free flow of vehicular traffic. That
is a sound policy, by and large.
Esthetic considerations are impor-
tant, of course, but so are the in
creasingly serious traffic problem
and the correlated factor of street
safety. 1t is important, therefore,
that the advice of highway and traf-
fc authorities and of civic inter
ests be obtained and weighed care
fully before congressional action is
taken in the Pan-American annex
matter.