Evening star., 1950-03-15
Gen. Young Hits
Planners Stand
On BridgeSife
Charges irresponsible
Arguments in Fight on
Commissioners Plan
By Don S. Worren

Engineer Commissioner Gordon
r. Young today accused park
and planning officials of using
irresponsible arguments in their
fight against the District Com
missioners' plan to span the Ana
costa River on the line of East
Capitol street.
The charge was made at an
other hearing before the subcom-
mittee of the House District Com
mittee, considering a bill to put
the bridge on the East Capitol
street line. The National Capital
Park and Planning Commission
and other groups have insisted
the bridge should be built farther
downstream on the line of Massa-
chusetts avenue
Gen. Young, rebutting planning
commission arguments, struck out
bitterly against contentious that
the city heads plan would cost
more than the combined cost Of
a Massachusetts, avenue span and
another one on the line of M
street NE.
Hits Grants Testimony.
II can only characterize as
irresponsible the statements Of
opponents of the bill who throw
out such ideas casually, without
making any attempt to ascertain
what they would cost or mean"
Gen. Young said.
Gen. Young totted up the scores
to show that while the Commis-
sioners' East Capitol street plan
was estimated to cost less than
$l2 million. his estimate of the
total costs of the alternative
bridges would be more than $40
million.
In this he was attacking testi-
mony given earlier by Maj. Gen.
U. S. Grant, III, former chairman
of the planning commission, and
John Nolen, jr., its director OF
planning, who had insisted that
the two bridges could be built
cheaper than the East Capitol
street span.
Under his attack on "irrespon-
sible" statements by opponents.
Gen. Young also turned loose a
blast at Irving c. Root, superin-
tendent of National Capital Parks.
for proposing that a tube be built
under the Anacostia River instead
of a bridge, if it was decided the
crossing must be built at East
Capitol street instead of Massa-
chusetts avenue.
Offered as Last Resort"
Mr.. Root had offered this as a
'1ast resort" alternative. in des-
perate move to save" the sports
center and stadium site at the
foot of East Capitol street. Gen.
Young said he could not accu-
rately estimate what the suggested
tube would cost, but using cost
figures for construction of the
Holland Tunnel in New York he
made guess that a tunnel under
Anacostia River would cost $40
million-a price he said would
be "all out of reason"
Representative Davis, Democrat.
of Georgia, head of the House SUBJ
committee, announced the hear
ings were closed with today's ses-
sion, but Gen. Grant asked that he
be given a chance to answer Ken.
Young's rebuttal. Mr.. Davis said
this might be granted at an execu-
tive meeting of the subcommittee.
Chairman Davis has said he
planned to make a personal in
spection of the sites of all the sug-
gested new Anacostia bridges be-
fore the subcommittee acted.
Groups Get Into Fight.
Spokesman for several citizens
groups got into the fight before
the hearings ended.
One of these Horace w. Peaslee,
speaking for a National Capital
committee of the American Insti-
tute of Architects, supported the
planning commission Massa-
(See ANACOSTIA. Page A-3.)