Evening star., 1944-10-03
Board Of Trade Votes
10 Support Plan For
Two Potomac BRIDGES
Proposal Superior
On Seven Counts,
Report Declares

keporf Declares
The plan calling for two four Ian,
bridges over the Potomac River t,
replace the present Highway Bridg'
after the war today carried the in
dorsement of the Washington Boare
Of Trade.
The two-bridge proposal, alread,
approved by the Commissioners, tn,
Public Roads Administration anl
the Fine Arts Commission, was fa-
yored by the directors of the boare
yesterday on the basis of a report
submitted by its Highways Commit.
tee. Plans for the two bridges are
now being studied by the Budget
Bureau.
The recommendation that two
bridges be built instead of a single
six-lane span was made by the
committee after thorough consid-
Grafton Of both proposals. The
single bridge is favored by the
National Capital Park and Planning
Commisson and the National Park
Service.
The Board of Trade report pointed
cut that bridge construction in the
past seldom took into realistic ac-
count the transportation needs OF
& community beyond few years
"Overconservatism concerning the
future Of highway transportation
has resulted in much reconstruction
and replacement which could have
been avoided had longer range views
been adopted" the report said.
Defines "Real Economy"
Real economy" it added, lies in
planning further into the future and
providing facilities which will not
become overloaded and dangerous a
few years hence"
The report listed seven reasons
why the two-bridge plan was con-
sidered superior to the other
proposal:
/. No detouring will be necessary
during construction. The present
bridge can be used while the first
new span is being erected and the
newly-built bridge can be opened
before construction begins on the
second span. Construction of a
single bridge would necessitate re-
routing traffic over other existing
bridges or over some emergency
bridge.
2. Two spans will provide an addi-
tional bridge for national defense.
When the present war began, mill
tary authorities found it advisable
to build temporary crossing. Such
measure would be unnecessary
with two permanent bridges already
existing.
Expansion Permitted.
8. The eight lanes of traffic would
make greater provision for the. ex-
pansion of the Metropolitan Area.
The report estimates that by 1850
there will be 100000 motor vehicles
in the area, or 100000 more than
in the peak year of 1941. BY 1860,
the report predicts, the number of
vehicles will be double the 1941
total.
a. The two-bridge system would
make traffic control less complicated
at the functions with the Mount
Vernon Memorial highway.
S. Truck traffic could move faster
on two-lane bridge, since the
one way traffic would eliminate the
necessity of clover-leaf turns, which
tend to slow the movement of
vehicles.
6. Headlight glare from opposing
traffic would be eliminated.
Would Avoid Congestion.
I. Both bridge capacity and un-
interrupted operation are important
factors. The two-bridge system
would have the advantage in both
respects over the single span. BY
increasing the capacity the bridges
would be capable of accommodating
the increasing traffic without con-
gestion for many years to come. The
report pointed out that planning
highway structures for less than 30
years would be unwise, since it Ger
tainly would be uneconomical to
have to make replacement or build
an added structure in the next 30
years"
The report conceded that the
added traffic using the two bridges
would eventually create condition
OF even greater congestion at the
intersection of Fourteenth street
and Constitution avenue NV, but
pointed out that grade separation
OF some kind must be provided at
that corner to meet the situation.
Highway facilities must be pro-
vided so that traffic can 60 where
it desires-otherwise it will take
other routes and avoid certain
areas" the report declared. "If this
is carried to extreme, 1t will cause
isolated areas that will be blighted.
This, in turn, will affect business in
those areas and may ultimately
affect assessment of property and
tax return. Washington is prac-
tically free from this at present.
Let's keen II soo