Evening star., 1950-01-29
SenseIess Bridge Deadlock

It is hard to make any sense out of the
National Capital Park and Planning Com
missions extraordinary stand in the
Anacostia Bridge controversy. Under the
commissions strange proposal-that no
new bridges be built until the approaches
to present ones are improved7-there would
be little hope of ever getting its approval
for another bridge over the Anacostia
River. For it is very doubtful that all
bottlenecks affecting traffic over the pres
ent bridges ever will be completely
eliminated. Underpasses and widened
streets and other expedients will help to
relieve congestion on the bridge ap-
proaches, but they cannot be seriously
regarded as substitute for new bridges
The commissions suggestion, as matter
of fact, is a throwback to the point at
which District authorities began to study
the bridge situation some years ago. They
started out with the idea of improving
conditions at Barney Circle, which inter-
feres with Sousa Bridge traffic, at Eleventh
Street Bridge and at the Benning span
approaches. They found they were run
ming into costs that would equal the cost
of new bridge over the river, without
providing nearly so much traffic relief for
the investment. Highway officials assert
that an estimated eight million dollars
spent for traffic relief at existing bridges
would increase their capacity by from
eighteen to twenty thousand automobiles
q day, all told, whereas like sum for
new bridge would enable from forty to
Eftx, additional carc tO crocS the
Anacostia daily.
What makes the commissions do-nothlng
policy on a new bridge even more IN
explicable is the fact that previously IL
had agreed on the urgent need for 1ourtn
bridge over the Anacostia. In fact, lts
planning director has urged that 1t be
built along the line of Massachusetts
avenue The District Highway Depart
nent. on the other hand, has proposed a
different site for this bridge-on the line
of East Capitol street. Highway engineers
have some strong traffic-count evidence to
support their plan. Both proposals were
argued before the commission at its meet
ing this week. But the situation became
more muddled when Irving c. Root, super
intendent of National Capital Parks,
dumped a third project into the hopper
a bridge over the Anacostia connecting
with Maryland avenue extended and M
street northeast. Mr.. Root is more con-
cerned with getting bridge to serve the
uncompleted Baltimore Washington Park
way than he is with the immediate problem
of relieving traffic over the Anacostia.
bridge for the parkway, which is Mary
land-Federal project to relieve congestion
on U. S. Route /, will be needed, of course,
but it would be better not to confuse this
essentially Federal respon-
sibility-with plans for relieving bridge
congestion between Anacostia and the
western shore of the Anacostia River.
BY sidestepping the question of where
the new bridge is to be placed and advanc-
ing, instead, suggestion for patchwork
relief of bridge congestion, the Park and
Planning Commission has served only to
confuse further an already confused situa-
ton. It has disapproved the Highway
DEPARTMENTS East Capitol Street plan
without offering a satisfactory alternative.
Under the circumstances, Congress may
have to take a hand in the dispute, in
order to break an intolerable impaSSe.