Evening star., 1947-01-10
Growth Control
For DC. Urged
|ByCity PIanner
WiIIioms Proposes
Sweeping Changes
In Tronsit, Traffic

Leslie Williams, city planning
engineer, today warned Washington
that it could be destroyed just as
effectively by blight as the cities Of
Europe and Asia were destroyed by
bombing.
Mr.. Williams outlined program
for the city to follow to avoid such
a fate. 1t included:
!. Allow traffic to move more
freely in the downtown area.
2. Clear slurns and redevelop the
land they occupy, insulating the new
neighborhoods with through high
ways and transit routes.
3. Protect existing residential
neighborhoods from being slashed
by through routes. AK
Tax Reform Urged.
4. Guide outlying growth through
county zoning and regulations re-
quiring adequate public conveni-
ences, like transportation, before
suburbs are built.
S. Overhaul its tax system to A.
nance transportation improvements.
6. Educate the public to the evils
of uncontrolled decentralization and
congestion.
Z. Put everybody in the city to
work on a master city plan.
Mr.. Williams, an engineer for the
American Transit Association, spoke
at the first of series of Washing
ton Board of Trade Forum Commit
tee luncheon and discussion sessions
at the Mayflower Hotel.
Stresses Public Transportation.
To reduce downtown traffic con-
gestion, he said, the city should
stagger the opening and closing
hours OF Government agencies,
business establishments and schools
more; cut out all downtown park
ing, encourage everybody to ride
buses and streetcars, widen existing
streets, construct off-street parking
terminals and construct express
ways.
Pointing out that it would be o
whole lot cheaper to subsidize pub
lie transit than to spend enormous
sums for downtown eXpressways,"
he told trade board members tram
sit riding could be encouraged by:
Express streetcar lines in central
f,.;y xr,I, ~ rrtNttlI ta iy,fro-
quent; bus routes for commuters
which bypass the central area, and
shuttle buses from parking lots on
the rim of the business district.
Expressways. he said, must be To-
Gated with one eye on their possible
}effect on the areas through which
they pass.
Growth Control Advised.
/ Through county zoning and reg
'lulations requiring adequate public
|conveniences, like transportation
Outlying growth can be controlled
l"We have about as much chance OF
stopping decentralization as we have
Iof preventing day from following
might" he said.
speaking OF taxes, Mr.. W1lllamS
said it was not fair for people living
outside the city to have the benefit
of city improvements and not to pay
their fair share. A metropolitan
agency to impose taxes for improve
ments benefting all the people Of
the District might be an answer to
this, he indicated.
|
| Single purpose viewpoints in PLAN
ming cannot be tolerated." he said,
holding up for ridicule a recent
statement that city planning should
revolve around effective transit
service. He did not identify the
speaker.
Mr.. williams was followed on the
program by the four men most in
timately concerne dwith improving
Washington's metropolitan trans
portation system-District Director
of Highways H. C. Whitehurst, Park
and Planning Commissioner Chair
man U. S. Grant III, Virginia High
way Commissioner James A. Ander-
son and Maryland State Roads
Commission Chairman Robert M.
Reindollar.
An open discussion was led by
Charles M. Upham, chairman of the
Board of Trade Highway Commit
tee.