Evening star., 1946-12-13
ID. {. Heads Get
Highway Plan
Costing Millions
Long-Ronge Program
includes Subsurfuce
Tracks, Expresswoys
MAP ON Page BIZ
By John W. Thompson, Jr.

A multimillion dollar engineer
ing program projecting District
highway improvements to the
threshold of the 21st century was
offered today to the Commis-
sioners by Engineer Commis-
sioner Gordon R. Young.
High lights include:
/. Depressed expressways through
present congested areas to connect
with existing and proposed high.
ways III Maryland and Virginia.
2. Subsurface streetcars along
portions of Fourteenth street, r
street and Pennsylvania avenue
NV. in the downtown area.
Includes Belt Highways.
g.. A belt highway encircling the
city and an inner belt around the
business district.
4. Some half dozen major grade
separations and channelizing Of
traffic at key intersections.
S. Of f-street terminals for buses
in the downtown area and increased
express bus service.
T 6. A crosstown highway north Of
Florida avenue.
7. A bridge across the Potomac
at Alexandria and one across the
Anacostia in line with Massachu.
sets avenue.
Most of the projects have been
culled from the 194I study Of
Highway Director H. c. White
hurst and the recommendations Of
two consulting firms who made sur
veys here in 1943 and 1914. The
firms were the j. E. Greiner Co.,
of Baltimore, and the De Leuw
Gather & Co., of Chicago.
Many of the recommendation
also were in the six-year program
recommended by Gen. Young to tho
Commissioners last summer.
All will be discussed at a public
hearing some time in March, 1t was
said.
Some Projects by 1855.
Major new project suggested was
a mid-city expressway to enable
north-south traffic to avoid the
business district and the area Of
Federal buildings.
The only timetable In the plan.
as recommended by Capt White-
hurst and transmitted by Gen.
Young, covers the years through
1855. During this period it Is pro-
posed most Of the grade separation
projects and the Arizona avenue
and E street freeways be under
| taken.
/ No date is fixed for the other ex-
pressways including the Mid-City,
the Capitol Hill, the Kenilworth-
Anacostia, and Rock Greek park
way. The two big bridge projects
likewise have no definite date, nor
has the crosstown highway.
According to the consultant enc
gineers, "freeway" and express
ways" are synonymous and mean
channels for the uninterrupted
movement of motor vehicles. They
are generally depressed below the
level of the area through which
they pass.
The far-reaching program extends
beyond cost estimates of its early
stages, but these alone approach
SIS ZOO, 900. The rest, involving the
more distant freeway projects, ac-
cording to Gen. Young would be
measured in tens of millions"
Parking Plans Separate.
Key to the financing, however, is
the proposed l cent increase In the
present gasoline tax of 8 cents q
gallon, which Capt. Whitehurst has
asked be made effective July /, and
the ability to borrow $35, ,000, 600
from the Federal Government to
cover the expenses of the subsur-
face Streetcar routes.
Neither Capt. Whitehursts recon-.
mendations nor the Greiner-De
Leuw report proposed a solution for.
the parking problem, since this
is the subject of separate studies.
The highway director did, how
ever, suggest that Traffic Director
George E. Keneipp be authorized to
prepare plans and cost estimates
for modern traffic control system.
Gen. Young said the survey BY
the consultants cost the city $50, 600.
Continued on Page Ri CoIiInn 4