Evening star., 1954-01-10
Why This Bridge Fight?
The Need Exists, But Congress Must Decide
Between Two Conflicting Views
By Georoe Beveridqe

Why can't WaShingtons road builders and city planners
agree Potomac River bridge?
Congress will consider authorization of span,
providing bridge lanes to connect the citys
downtown streets Virginia must decide
between sharply conflicting to where the bridge
is to be located.
There's question about the need. The five existing
bridges handle 900 day, each bridge carrying
than its planned capacity The two Fourteenth street
Highway Bridges with lanes, carry l06,O00-the
heaviest bridge traffic concentration in the world AS
recently 945 experts predicted the Highway Bridges
would be carrying only $4,000 by 1850 Today the experts
almost afraid to guess about 1860.
When they before Congress the planners and road
builders won't be arguing about need. But they'll be
fighting each other about location.
The District Highway Department wants crossing
between Memorial and Key Bridges to hit District streets
near E street and New Hampshire avenue NV.
The National Capital Planning Commission wants
just downriver the Highway Bridges, leading from
Reaches the proposed Southwest IF street, freeway
Opposing Groups Using Different Bibles"
Both these bridges point toward the center of town.
Why better than the other? Why won't either side
give in?
District Engineer Commissioner Louis w. Prentiss who
leads the Highway Department fight and also is Planning
Commission member sums up the this way: The
trouble is that the two groups have different bibles
One bible" is a program adopted by the Regional
Highway Planning Committee made of highway officials
from the District Maryland Virginia and the Federal
Bureau of Public Roads 1t is series of both immediate
and range improvement projects the entire
Its District projects make the cys official highway
program.
The other bible" is Washngtons Comprehensive Plan,
adopted by the Planning Commission in 1880 also sets
the pace for other planning bodies. The plan
deals with streets and bridges, but only in part
On paper there striking similarity between highway
development maps of the two bibles"
Actually the Planning Commission says there is no
conflict between projects which represent rs cent of
the the entire Highway Department program. In
another per the planners feel differences minor
and be reconciled In the remaining IS per cent
there sharp conflicts.
Two of the conflicting projects stand like
thumbs. is the road builders plan to construct
express parkway through Creek Park The other
the E street bridge.
Reasons for Conflicts Are Explained.
This is why the conflicts exist:
The Highway Department is one-purpose agency:
build where they needed quickly possible
money restricted it has to build projects
at time. 1t builds the basis of studies which
show where traffic from and where wants to go,
and tries to meet the greatest existing need with available
revenue"
2 The planners say their job is neither immediate
simple to plan roads that follow traffic desire
lines The location of their roads is influenced largely
by future predictions how the city will develop. The
roads related Intentionally to plans for the develop
ment of future residential employment and business areas
parks and Federal property.
The most striking difference between the two sets of
plans that the highway builders to build
routes in straight lines linking areas OF traffic origin and
destination.
The planners roads emphasize circumerentia routes
Their idea that these roads permit traffic to distribute
congested areas and feed into the congesed
number of streets. The planners such circular
adapt easily to traffic patterns which change
the years.
This difference planning concept shows up graphically
in the expressway fight The Highway Depart
ment wants such expreSsway to bring motorists quickly
and safely suburban Maryland to downtown Washing
tonon straight line possible The planners want the
suburban fan out crosscouny loop roads
like the county belt and Fort drvethen feed into
city large number of streets closest to their
destinations.
Over the last years this difference in approach
the major planning factor in development of the
bridge fight The street bridge has been the Highway
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