Evening star., 1947-04-25
Bv AIex n. PresfoN

The Virginia department Of highways
today is planning-and is building-its
primary roads on the assumption that
the modern, three-lane thoroughfare is
obsolescent.
It assumes that even the four-lane
undivided highway is far greater haz-
ard to safety than the dual strip Of two
lanes each. Extensive provision for the
latter is made in the departments '20-
year plan," already well ahead of sched-
ule.
Maryland, too. Is looking toward
brighter highway future. 1t has not adj
vanced its planning as far as Virginia
but "5-year plan" is in a formative
stage and soon will be made public.
Despite Virginia's spraWling 2,677,773
square miles and Maryland's 1921 ,244,
the Free State has the harder task
ahead, having Jagged behind in recent
years. But Maryland now is launched
on a program to bring its roads up to
modern standards. 1t has taken steps
to segregate highway revenues even
more than in the past. new $780,
10000 bond issue has been. authorized
for self -liquidating projects as a part
of a $l39,000,000 construction program
during the next five years.
Virginias 20-year plan was announced
in 1914. 1t was developed on the idea
that her present roads should not be
built to suit motorists needs today, but
TO serve the needs of motorists 20 years
from now. It establishes annual goals
and standards
Under her pay-as-you-go plan the
Old Dominion will spend 1862, ,496 OIL
$422, 1865, 900 for primary and S239, ,633 GAL
for secondary roads-during the 20-year
period.
Parenthetically, 1t is of significance
to Northern Virginia that the Culpeper
Construction District is scheduled for the
largest primary road expenditure
s60,92S, 900.
Virginia's highway policy is summar-
lied in the following sentence from the
20-year plan:
"It would, therefore, appear that
where 1t is intended that final construc-
ton shall consist of four-lane, divided
highway, it would be in the interest of
both safety and economy to progress
directly from the two-lane to the divided
four lane"
In other words, officials explain, II
the four-lane type is known to be
need of the future, rights -of-way will
be acquired ana III WILL De DulIG now,
although a three-lane road might serve
immediate needs. As 81 $50 II
Maryland State Roads Commission
engineers estimate it would cost $780,
100000 to bring the States highway
system up to modern standards. The
s139, 900 authorization Of the recent
Legislature gives the State golden
opportunity" to make major advances
in placing Free State roads on par
with those of other States, in the
opinion of Chief Engineer Wilson T.
Ballard.
Virginia's present approaches to the
Nations Capital are well ahead OF
Maryland's main approaches-the Balti-
more boulevard and Richmond highway
are four-lane roads but, because of
higher population density, the Balti-
more boulevard provides slower travel
ing for greater distance while con-
gestion on the Richmond highway thins
out just south of Alexandria. Further
south, traffic is speeded by four lanes
or two divided arteries, including the
latest high-speed bypass at Fredericks-
burg. An expressway through Rich
mond now is being planned.
Both jurisdictions boast four-lane
parkway approaches to Washington.
Both were constructed at Federal Gov
ernnent expense. The Mount Vernon