Evening star., 1946-04-18
Land Owners
P| |an>Alterndte
Route
New Location Would
Bypass Valuable
Montgomery Areas

Montgomery Areas
A special committee of property
owners today was drafting an alter
nate route for the proposed north
west freeway through suburban
County to Offset an ex-
isting plan to carry the route
through highly developed and sub
divided property.
Twenty-one landowners between
boulevard and Bradley
Hills and representatives of the
Bradley Hills and Woodacres Cit
liens Associations formally objected
to a route included within an 300
foot-wide strip already surveyed by
the State Roads Commission. The
route closely follows another plan
surveyed by the Maryland-National
Capital Park and Planning Commits
sion.
At meeting in the Office of Albert
Walker, Bethesda realtor, the group
adopted a resolution setting forth
objections to the plan now under
study and after deciding to submit
an alternate proposal, agreed to re-
quest conference early next week
with County Park Commissioner E.
Brooke Lee.
Fears Damage to School.
Paul L. Banfield Of the Landon
School for Boys, declared that stakes
set out in the preliminary survey
of the 800-foot strip by the Roads
Commission, pass directly through
the school property and that if they
represent the center line of the
dual lane highspeed artery, a s110,-
600 lower school building, a $15o,000
gymnasium and stables and garages
will be taken in the right of way.
The property itself will straddle the
project at one point, he said.
Senator La Toilette, Progressive,
Of Wisconsin, chairman of the
Fathers Club of the school, has
called a meeting for April 80 at
which the freeway will be studied,
Mr. Banfield said.
The property owners adopted a
resolution suggesting relocation of
the project, which will pass west
of Bethesda, Rockville and Gathers
burg, to an area further west in the
suburban area which will traverse
less densely populated areas and
territory of lower land values.
Five Objections Listed.
Five main objections to the high
speed, limited access artery through
the Bradley Hills to Dalecarlia area,
were set forth:
The present route under study
is through the most valuable acre
age property in Montgomery County,
requiring the expenditures Of un-
necessarily large sums for the right
Of way.
1t is projected through the sub
divisions of Bradley Hills and
Woodacres and close to other high
| type residential communities, the
values of which would be greatly
deprecated by the nearness Of a
boulevard estimated to carry $4,000
cars and trucks daily.
| 1t is projected through a section
which heretofore has been devel-
oped for high-type homes and is
in the path of the natural expan-
sion of Washington's better COM
munity.
Land Ready for Development.
The lands proposed to be taken
for right of way is ready for de-
velopment, as indicated by numer-
GUS plats at present before the Park
and Planning Commission awaiting
approval.
Extension of right of way will
take from Montgomery County its
higher taxable land and home VAL
ues already existing and to be de-
, veloped in the future.
The limited-access boulevard
would have the effect of dividing
the suburban area since access to
the area to the west would be linn
tied. This division would be similar
to railroad or a river, Mr.. Walker
said
Tentative Status Stressed.
In Baltimore. Chairman Robert
M. Reindollar of the State Roads
SoA1i11iAooAOll, AC-CuiplidSAGCo OllC view
that the study already made is
purely tentative and that within
matter of weeks he expects to have
available manpower to make a
thorough study" of the problems
of the area.
The committee named to prepare
an alternate route is composed Of
Allen Minnix, Bates Warren, Mr..
Walker and Milton M. Price, a Be-
thesda surveying engineer.
The alternate suggestion will
roughly follow another alternate
route already studied, but aban-
doned by the Park and Planning
Commission after a $4,000 study.
Instead of joining Macarthur boule-
ward at the Dalecarlia Reservoir, the
freeway would leave the boulevard in
the vicinity of Cabin John, parallel
Seven Locks road and pass up
| Thomas Branch.
Louis A. Gravel of Bradley Hills
today sent six-page petition to Mr..
Reindollar. in which home owners
protested the project as now being
studied.