Evening star., 1953-03-20
Two New Sites
For orPotonlac
Bridges Picked
Planners Also Indorse
Project to Remove
Temporary Buildings
By George Beveridee

A proposal for two new Poto-
mac River bridges, one just above
Key Bridge and one just down.
stream from the railroad bridge
at Fourteenth street, was placed
before the National Capital
Planning Commission today by
its planning staff.
Earlier the planners indorsed
a resolution asking the removal
OF temporary Government build
ings in the city's central area.
The new bridge proposal was
the result of months of study by
the commissions technical ex-
pertS.
In presenting it, John Nolen,
jr., planning director, challenged
the need for a central area
bridge, such as the District High
way Departments idea for a
span leading from E street NV.
The proposal came in the face
OF earlier commission indorse-
ment of a bridge to serve tLs
central area" This area Is
regarded generally as being be-
tween the Key and Fourteenth
street bridges.
Seen Link to Expressway.
AS described by Mr.. Nolen, the
span below the railroad bridge
would extend in a straight line
across the river and the WASH
ington Channel to connect with
Tenth street and the proposed
Southwest (F street, expressway.
Mr.. Nolen said plans already are
being prepared for the channel
crossing.
The one above Key Bridge
would span the river to connect
with Arlington boulevard and
other major thoroughfares in
Virginia, and traffic would be
routed from Arizona avenue in
the District.
The key to Mr.. Nolen's pro-
posal is that it is not feasible
to construct a high-speed ex-
pressway along the District side
OF the river as the bottom of the
City's proposed inner loop net
work. Instead, he proposed that
such a high-speed drive be built
on the Virginia side between the
two new bridges.
This. he explained, would per-
NIT motorists in northwest
Washington to reach destina-
tionS near the Pentagon without
passing too close to central
Washington. At the same time,
it would permit Virginia motor
lists bound for Capital Hill area
also to skirt the central city.
Against "Inner Ring"
Mr.. Nolen said the Districts
highway program routes too
much traffic into the central
area. Because of the expense.
he said, he did not think 1t
feasible to develop completely
an Inner ring" road on the Dis
trict side.
He said he also agreed with
the District officials that the
north and east routes of the in
ner ring must use existing
streets largely.
He also based his, challenge of
the need for a bridge leading
directly to the central area of
Washington on two additional
factors. One is a possible reduce
ton in the number of Federal
employees in that area. The other
is that moves to improve mass
transit might lead more commu-
ters to ride buses to work.
Traffic Volume Analysed.
Mr.. Nolen said one study
showed half the traffic going
across the three bridges now is
not bound for central Washing
ton. District Engineer Commits
sioner Louis w. Prentiss inter-
posed that recent survey
showed Sc per cent of the cars
moving over the Fourteenth
street bridge had only one oc-
cupant.
Mr.. Nolen cited possible re-
moval of temporary buildings as
one factor in reducing the tre-
mendous downtown concentra-
ton of Federal workers.
The Commissioners action
toward removal of temporary
buildings came in the form of
indorsing a resolution of the
American Society of Landscape
Architects. The resolution urged
fast removal of all temporary
buildings on park lands and
elsewhere in the central area.
Mr.. Nolen said the Commits
sion consistently has favored