Evening star., 1945-02-11

i which can be Wtdened Ak reasonable
cost when traf1c demands. the ca
pacity Of bridge can be reasonably
increased only by building another
bridge.
I. Capacity Of the approaches In
both Virginia and the District, con-
sidering both the direct approaches
and the possible turning movement,
Is sufficient to handle the traffic
which the bridges can carry.
The Planning Commission has
questioned the capacity Of the ap-
proaches on both the Virginia and
District of Columbia ends to handle
the traffic which the bridges can
carry. On the Virginia side, all
agree that the approach system now
planned will lead more than three
lanes of traffic to the bridghead.
On the District side, three lanes
will flow directly from Fourteenth
street onto the south bound bridge,
plus such traffic as may enter from
the low level Tidal Basin Bridge
and the West Potomac Park roads.
While four full lanes may not be
needed, less than four lanes would
be insufficient, and any excess ca
pacity in the fourth lane will be
needed to accommodate slow moving
or broken down vehicles.
S. The amount Of traffic which win
reach Constitution and Pennsylvania
avenues will not be in excess Of the
capacity Of those intersections, and
will not tend to increase congestion
In the midcity area. Any proposed
diversion of traffic from this area
will depreciate property values
therein.
The most recent expression Of
opinion by the planning commission
bases its objection to the two bridge
scheme on the fact that "in the
opinion Of the commission 1t will
throw greater volume of traffic into
the downtown section Of Washing
ton than is good for the general
welfare of the CITY," With respect
to this contention, Mr.. Macdonald
has the following to say: "On the
north approach the Maine avenue
grade separation can accommodate
three lanes in each direction, and
the streets to the north can, or can
be made to, distribute this volume
easily. Between the brideghead and
the Maine avenue grade separation
considerable traffic will be directed
to Fifteenth street, Seventeenth
street and East Potomac Park"
Traf11c studies made during June
and July, 1914, indicate that % per
cent Of the traffic entering the Dis
trict by way of Highway Bridge turns
on to the east at Maine avenue S.W.,
II per cent at D street S.W. and IL
per cent at Independence avenue
S.W. Some per cent is added at
c street and small amount at
Independence avenue. OF the total
volume which crosses Highway
Bridge, only AZ per cent, including
traffic that turned in from the east
and west, moves on Fourteenth street
north of Adams drive NV. This
north-bound traffic on Fourteenth
street has a street capacity of three
lanes when it reaches Constitution
avenue, and assuming that all four
lanes over the bridge are used to
full capacity, it is difficult to see
how Al per cent of this, or less than
two lanes, will congest a street with
three-lane capacity.
The question Of diverting traffic
from the business districts of urban
communities by the use of bypass
routes has recently been the subject
of study by a committee of traffic
experts. Briefly, 1t was their con-
clusion that "even with a bypass, a
major part of the traffic will con-
tinue to flow through the city to the
full capacity of the roads leading to