Evening star., 1949-11-04
Officials Estimate
S68, 600, 900 Needed
To Modernize System

Federal road funds contributed to
the District. about $550.000 an
nually. has never been adequate.
The District is now far behind
its schedule of highway construc-
tion, he warned, being unable to
keep pace with the phenomenal
growth of the city.
Every main road and bridge
built in the District must be de-
signed to accommodate traffic of
the entire Metropolitan Area, he
pointed out.
Mr.. Harrison said the Potomac
River constitutes a barrier be-
tween the District and Northern
Virginia which, because of the
rivers location within the geo.
graphical limits of the District of
Columbia, places the whole burden
Of providing crossing facilities
upon the District"
Cites Arlington Growth.
II mention this" he added, mot
because I believe Virginia should
bear a greater portion of the bur-
den, but to indicate the extent
and magnitude of our own prob
lem. Arlington County is fast be-
coming a city in its own right, and
the entire burden of connecting
that great community and our
own with adequate and sufficient
river crossings will fall upon the
District of Columbia. This alone
is tremendous task for a COM
munity of our size"
Mr.. Harrison called the agree
ments entered into among Mary
land, Virginia and the District
in assessing the costs of road sur
veys "milestones in the develop
ment Of an adequate system of
highways for the Washington
Metropolitan Area"
William F. Childs. jr., chief
highway engineer of Maryland,
said the Washington suburbs still
are outgrowing their roads faster
than Maryland can replace them.
He said 125 miles of roads on
the edge of Washington need
$48, 100000 worth of overhauling
Maryland believes the Federal
Government should provide some
OF the funds to meet highway
needs in the area, he added.
"Under the accelerated road
building program in Maryland,
highway improvements in the
Washington suburban area have
been averaging $1,780.000 a year
for the past three years." Mr..
Childs reported. "If the $48, 8,000,-
600 decentralization program
in the area were spread over 10
years. it would still mean $4,80o,-
600 year to get the job done. -
Virginia Needs Estimated.
c. S. Mullen, chief engineer of
the Virginia Highway Depart
ment, said $16,000,000 will be
needed to bring the primary road
system in the Washington Metro
politan Area in Virginia to a
standard desirable for present and
future traffic needs.
1T has been estimated that it
will be possible to supply only
approximately 100000 annually,
including Federal aid," Mr.. Mullen
said. "At this rate, 40 years will
be required to meet the needs
without material and increased
assistance.
ut is evident that this problem
cannot be satisfactorily solved if
there is applied to it only the
limited resources of Virginia"
In a symposium dealing with
airports, a paper prepared by a
Civil Aeronautics Administration
official, stressed the fact that
Washington needs a supple
mentary airport for air passenger
transport flying right now."
The paper, read in his absence
by Philip Hahn of CAA, made no
mention of Tuesdays disaster at
Washington National Airport,
when SIS persons were killed in a
crash.
Airport Congestion Cited.
Pointing out that National Air
port now is unduly congested
the paper said that, in instru-
ment weather, it ''just cannot be-
gin to handle the volume OF
traffic" Nor can it be expanded
in any manner to relieve this con-
dition. he said.
A definite site for a supple
mentary airport was not specified
and most of the surveys made by
CAA and planning officials omit
Identification of desired sites. A
recent survey indicates total OF
II additional stragetically located
small airports will be required for
the Washington area within the
next 10 years. he pointed out.
Harold A. Kemp, chairman OF
the Interstate Commerce Com
mission on the Potomac River
discussed pollution problems ir
the Potomac at another session
River Pollution Discussed.
The Potomac River above Key
Bridge is the only natural water
resource which may be reclaimed
Tor unrestricted recreational use ir
the Metropolitan Area and thi.
can be done at a reasonable cost
MIR. Kemp said.
The District proposes to supple.
menr its water supply from Great
Falls by taking water from tht
river just above the District line
MIR. Kemp said,
Center Porty Planned
The Greenbelt section of the