Evening star., 1957-12-06
Planners Ask
Consideration
Of Truck Tube
BY GEORGE BEvERIDGE

iACA AOubC dAOIiS OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
avenue to bring truck traffic on
U. S. Route 240 to downtown
Washington.
Commission officials empha-
sized they we're not taking a
position in favor of the new
route. but that 1t was worthy
of consideration" along with
others at a public hearing to
be held at the District Building
January 6 on the Route 240
controversy.
Commission members yester-
day got their first detailed run
down on the new idea. which
involves the construction Of
$500 feet of underground
traffic tunnels at a cost Of
$4,000 a foot.
Would Split in Two
The latest route proposal,
developed by Planning Com
mission staff technicians, goes
like this:
Construction of a big ex-
pressway southwark from the
Maryland-District line along
Wisconsin avenue. under Ten
ley circle and through Glover
Archbold Park to a point Just
north of Massachusetts ave-
nue.. From there it would split
into two parts.
One part, limited TO pas
senger cars. would be a four
lane expressway continuing
southwark through Clover
Archbold Park to a point near
Canal road. Then it would turn
eastward and follow the Po-
tomac River and Whitehurst
freeway to connect with the
city's proposed inner loop"
expressway near Washington
circle.
The other part, built mainly
for trucks. would swing east
ward and be a four lane "tun-
mel route" Starting at the
northwest corner of Massa-
chusettS avenue and Macomb
street. traffic would enter a
deep underground tunnel that
would follow the north side
of Massachusetts avenue for
nearly a mile to Normanstone
Park, near Thirty-fourtn and
Fulton streets NV.
viaduct Over Park
There traffic would come out
Of the tunnel and follow Nor
manstone Valley at grade.
crossing Rock Greek Park on
a viaduct. Then it would enter
a second half-mile-long tunnel
on the hillside below Belmont
road and several hundred yards
north of Massachusetts,. This
tunnel would end near Decatur
place and Twenty-second street.
and from that point the ex-
presSway would move eastward
to meet the inner loop" near
Sheridan circle.
Robert Keith. commission
staff member who explained
the proposal, said the four-lane
tunnel route" would consist
of separated one-wsy tubes
each containing two lanes.
He said the tunnels could be
bored far underground" at
some points as much as 140
feet below ground level-So that
virtually no existing construc-
tion would be disturbed" in the
Massachusetts, avenue area.
Tunnel $4,000 a Foot
Mr.. Keith figured the cost
of the i miles of tunnel alone
to be $50 million-S4.000 a foot.
But he contended that the en-
tire project-the Glover-Arch-
bold expressway plus the tunnel
route--would cost the District
less money than a route the
District Highway Department
favors to bring Route 240 into
Washington along the Potomac
River from Maryland,
Commission members spent
most of their 2-hour session
arguing over whether the new
route should be presented by
the Planning Commission at
the January 6 public hearing
called by the District Commis-
SionerS.
Last June the planning COM
mission voted to back a route
that would follow Wisconsin
avenue and Glover Archbold
Park. but was not specific about
details. About two weeks ago.
commission chairman Harlaud
Bartholomew mentioned the
new tunnel route" idea, but
yesterdays meeting brought its
first detailed explanation.
Welling Dubious
District Engineer Commits
Sioner A. c. Welling said the
January 6 hearing has been
advertised as concentrating on
four specific Route 240 propo-
sails within the District-two
along the Potomac River and
two in Glover -Archbold Park.
He said ne didn't think the
planners new scheme should
be presented if it were simply
"a staff study" and that he
to know what its pre-
else status would be.
Several members argued that
the idea should be considered,
however, along with any other
proposals brought in by the
public. If necessary, they said.
the Route 240 project is inn
portant enough for the Janu-
airy 6 hearing to be postponed.
A special committee Of the
See ROUTE 24O, Page B-s